®tjp  i.  H.  Bill  IGtbranj 

Nortlj  (Carolina  £>tate  Mniofraitg 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  DATE 
INDICATED  BELOW  AND  IS  SUB- 
JECT TO  AN  OVERDUE  FINE  AS 
POSTED  AT  THE  CIRCULATION 
DESK. 


100M/7-85 


LITTLE  MASTERPIECES   OF   SCIENCE 


Little    Masterpieces 
of    Science 

Edited    by    George    lies 

the  Naturalist  as  in- 
terpreter and  seer 

By 

Charles  Darwin 
Alfred  R.  Wallace 
Thomas  H.  Huxley 
Leland  O.  Howard 
George  lies 


4&P 


NEW   YORK 

DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE    &   COMPANY 

1902 


Copyright,  1902,  by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
Copyright,  1S77,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
Copyright,  igor,  by  John  Wanamaker 
Copyright,  iStfS.by  G.  H.  Buek  &  Co. 


PREFACE 

To  gather  stones  and  fallen  boughs  is  soon  to 
ask,  what  may  be  done  with  them,  can  they 
be  piled  and  fastened  together  for  shelter  ?  So  be- 
gins architecture,  with  the  hut  as  its  first  step, 
with  the  Alhambra,  St.  Peter's,  the  capitol  at 
Washington,  as  its  last.  In  like  fashion  the  amass- 
ing of  fact  suggests  the  ordering  of  fact :  when  ob- 
servation is  sufficiently  full  and  varied  it  comes 
to  the  reasons  for  what  it  sees.  The  geologist 
delves  from  layer  to  layer  of  the  earth  beneath 
his  tread,  he  finds  as  he  compares  their  fossils 
that  the  more  recent  forms  of  life  stand  highest 
in  the  scale  of  being,  that  in  the  main  the  animals 
and  plants  of  one  era  are  more  allied  to  those 
immediately  next  than  to  those  of  remoter  times. 
He  thus  divines  that  he  is  but  exploring  the 
proofs  of  lineal  descent,  and  with  this  thought  in 
his  mind  he  finds  that  the  collections  not  only 
of  his  own  district,  but  of  every  other,  take  on  a 
new  meaning.  The  great  seers  of  science  do  not 
await  every  jot  and  tittle  of  evidence  in  such  a 
case  as  this.  They  discern  the  drift  of  a  fact 
here,  a  disclosure  there,  and  with  both  wisdom 
and  boldness  assume  that  what  they  see  is  but 
a  promise  of  what  shall  duly  be  revealed.  Thus 
it  was  that  Darwin  early  in  his  studies  became 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  organic  evolution: 
the  labours  of  a  lifetime  of  all  but  superhuman 


vV^ 


Preface 

effort,  a  judicial  faculty  never  exceeded  among 
men,  served  only  to  confirm  his  confidence  that 
all  the  varied  forms  of  life  upon  earth  have  come 
to  be  what  they  are  through  an  intelligible  pro- 
cess, mainly  by  "natural  selection." 

The  present  volume  offers  from  the  classic 
pages  of  Darwin  his  summary  of  the  argument 
of  "The  Origin  of  Species,"  his  account  of  how 
that  book  came  to  be  written,  and  his  recapitula- 
tion of  "The  Descent  of  Man. "  All  this  affords 
a  supreme  lesson  as  to  the  value  of  observation 
with  a  purpose.  When  Darwin  was  confronted 
with  an  organ  or  trait  which  puzzled  him,  he  was 
wont  to  ask,  What  use  can  it  have  had  ?  And 
always  the  answer  was  that  every  new  peculiarity 
of  plant,  or  beast,  is  seized  upon  and  held  when- 
ever it  confers  advantage  in  the  unceasing  con- 
flict for  place  and  food.  No  hue  of  scale  or 
plume,  no  curve  of  beak  or  note  of  song,  hut  has 
served  a  purpose  in  the  plot  of  life,  or  advanced 
the  action  in  a  drama  where  the  penalty  for  fail- 
ure is  extinction. 

As  Charles  Darwin  stood  first  among  the 
naturalists  of  the  nineteenth  century,  his  advo- 
cacy of  evolution  soon  wrought  conviction 
among  the  thinkers  competent  to  follow  his 
evidence  and  weigh  his  arguments.  The  opposi- 
tion to  his  theories  though  short  was  sharp,  and 
here  he  found  a  lieutenant  of  unflinching  courage, 
of  the  highest  expository  power,  in  Professor 
Huxley.  This  great  teacher  came  to  America 
in  1876,  and  discoursed  on  the  ancestry  of  the 
vi 


Preface 

horse,  as  disclosed  in  fossils  then  recently  dis- 
covered in  the  Far  West,  maintaining  that  they 
afforded  unimpeachable  proof  of  organic  evolu- 
tion.    His  principal  lecture  is  here  given. 

In  a  remarkable  held  of  "natural  selection" 
Bates,  Wallace  and  Poulton  have  explained  the 
value  of  "mimicry"  as  an  aid  to  beasts,  birds, 
insects,  as  they  elude  their  enemies  or  lie  unsus- 
pected on  the  watch  for  prey.  The  resem- 
blances thus  worked  out  through  successive 
generations  attest  the  astonishing  plasticity  of 
bodily  forms,  a  plasticity  which  would  be  in- 
credible were  not  its  evidence  under  our  eyes 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Insects  have 
high  economic  importance  as  agents  of  destruc- 
tion: we  are  learning  how  to  pit  one  of  them 
against  another,  so  as  to  leave  a  clear  field  to  the 
farmer  and  the  fruit  grower.  In  this  depart- 
ment a  leader  is  Professor  Howard,  who  con- 
tributes a  noteworthy  chapter  on  the  successful 
fight  against  the  pest  which  threatened  with  ruin 
the  orange  groves  of  California. 

To  the  every-day  observer  the  most  enticing 
field  of  natural  history  is  that  in  which  common 
flowers  and  common  insects  work  out  their  un- 
ending co-partnery.  A  blossom  by  its  scent,  its 
beauty  of  tint,  allures  a  moth  or  bee  and  thus,  in 
effect,  is  able  to  take  flight  and  find  a  mate 
across  a  county  so  as  to  perpetuate  its  race  a 
hundred  miles  from  home.  Our  volume  closes 
with  a  sketch  of  the  singular  ties  which  thus  bind 
together  the  fortunes  of  blossom  and  insect,  so 
vii 


Preface 

that  at  last  the  very  form  of  a  flower  may  be 
cast  in  the  mould  of  its  winged  ally.  A  word  is 
also  spoken  regarding  the  singular  relations  of 
late  detected  between  the  world  of  vegetation 
and  minute  forms  once  deemed  parasitic.  The 
pea  and  its  kindred  harbor  on  their  rootlets  cer- 
tain tiny  lodgers ;  the  tenants  pay  a  liberal  rent 
in  the  form  of  nitrogen  compounds,  a  striking 
interlacement  of  interests  ! 

^George  Iles. 


viu 


CONTENTS 

DARWIN,  CHARLES 

The    Origin   of   Species    in  Summary 

Varieties  merge  gradually  into  species.  Animals  tend 
to  increase  in  geometrical  ratio.  Varieties  diverge 
in  consonance  with  diversity  of  opportunity  for  life. 
In  the  struggle  for  existence  those  which  best  accord 
with  their  surroundings  will  survive  and  propagate 
their  kind.  Sexual  selection  has  put  a  premium  on 
beauty.  The  causes  which  in  brief  periods  produce 
varieties,  in  long  periods  give  rise  to  species.  Instincts, 
as  of  the  hive  bee,  are  slowly  developed.  Geology 
supports  the  theory  of  Evolution:  the  changes  in  time 
in  the  fossil  record  are  gradual.  Geographical  dis- 
tribution lends  its  corroboration:  in  each  region  most 
of  the  inhabitants  in  every  great  class  are  plainly 
related.  A  common  ancestor  is  suggested  when  we 
see  the  similarity  of  hand,  wing  and  fin.  Embryos 
of  birds,  reptiles  and  fish  are  closely  similar  and  un- 
like adult  forms.  Slight  changes  in  the  course  of 
millions  of  years  produce  wide  divergences.       ...     3 

DARWIN,    CHARLES 

How    "The    Origin   of    Species"    Came 
to  be  Written 

During  his  voyage  on  the  Beagle  Darwin  saw  fossil 
armadilloes  like  existing  species,  and  on  the  islands 
of  the  Galapagos  grotip  a  gradually  increased  diversity 
of  species  of  every  kind.  All  this  suggested  that 
species  gradually  become  modified.  Notes  gathered 
of  facts  bearing  on  the  question.  Observes  that  it  is 
ix 


Contents 


the  variation  between  one  animal  and  another  which 
gives  the  breeder  his  opportunity.  Reads  Malthus  on 
Population,  a  work  which  points  out  the  keen  struggle 
for  existence  and  that  favourable  variations  tend  to  be 
preserved.  In  1S42  draw",  up  a  brief  abstract  of  the 
theory  of  "natural  selection."  In  1856  begins  an 
elaborate  work  on  the  same  theme,  but  in  1858,  hearing 
that  Wallace  has  written  an  essay  advancing  an  inde- 
pendent theory  of  natural  selection,  oilers  a  summary 
of  his  argument  to  the  Linnean  Society  of  London. 
Writes  "The  Origin  of  Species,"  which  is  published 
most  successfully,  November,  1859 35 

DARWIN,   CHARLES 

The    Descent    of    Man:  the  Argument 
in   Brief. 

Since  evolution  is  probable  for  all  other  animals,  it  is 
probable  for  man.  The  human  form  has  so  much  in 
common  with  the  forms  of  other  animals  that  com- 
munity of  descent  is  strongly  suggested.  Man,  like 
other  creatures,  is  subject  to  the  struggle  for  existence. 
Evidence  shows  that  it  is  likely  that  man  is  descended 
from  a  tailed  and  hairy  quadruped  that  dwelt  in  trees. 
Man's  mental  power  has  been  the  chief  factor  in  his 
advance,  especially  in  his  development  of  language. 
Conscience  is  due  to  social  instincts,  love  of  approbation, 
memory,  imagination  and  religious  feeling.  Sexual 
selection  in  its  effects  upon  human  advancement.     .     .  45 

WALLACE,  ALFRED  R. 

Mimicry  and  Other  Protective  Resem- 
blances Among  Animals 

The  colours  of  animals  are  useful  for  concealment  from 
their  prey,  from  the  creatures  upon  which  they  prey. 
The  lion  is  scarcely  visible  as  he  crouches  on  the  sand 
X 


Contents 


or  among  desert  rocks  and  stones.  Larks,  quails 
and  many  other  birds  are  so  tinted  and  mottled  that 
their  detection  is  difficult.  The  polar  bear,  living  amid 
ice  and  snow,  is  white.  Reptiles  and  fish  are  so  coloured 
as  to  be  almost  invisible  in  the  grass  or  gravel  where 
they  rest.  Many  beetles  and  other  insects  are  so  like 
the  leaves  or  bark  on  which  they  feed  that  when  motion- 
less they  cannot  be  discerned.  Some  butterflies 
resemble  dead,  dry  or  decaying  leaves  so  closely  as  to 
elude  discovery.  Every  individual  better  protected 
by  colour  than  others,  has  a  better  chance  for  life,  and 
of  transmitting  his  hues.  Harmless  beetles  and  flies 
are  so  like  wasps  and  bees  as  to  be  left  alone.     .      . 

HUXLEY,  THOMAS   H. 
Evolution  of  the  Horse 

The  hoof  of  the  horse  is  simply  a  greatly  enlarged  and 
thickened  nail:  four  of  his  five  toes  are  reduced  to 
mere  vestiges.  His  teeth  are  built  of  substances  of 
varying  hardness:  they  wear  away  at  different  rates 
presenting  uneven  grinding  surfaces.  Probable  de- 
scent of  the  horse,  link  by  link,  especially  as  traced 
in  the  fossils  of  North  America.  Evolution  has  taken 
a  long  time:  how  long  the  physicist  and  the  astronomer 
must   decide.  x 

HOWARD,  LELAND  O. 

Fighting  Pests  with  Insect  Allies 

A  scale  insect  threatened  with  ruin  the  orchards  of 
California.  Professor  C.  V.  Riley  decided  that  the 
pest  was  a  native  of  Australia.  Mr.  A.  Hoebele  ob- 
serves in  Australia  that  the  pest  is  kept  down  by  lady- 
birds. These  are  accordingly  sent  to  California  where 
they  destroy  the  scale  insect  and  restore  prosperity 
among  the  fruit-growers.  Another  pest,  of  olive 
trees,  is  devoured  by  an  imported  ladybird  of  another 
xi 


Contents 


species.  This  plan  extended  to  Portugal  and  Egypt 
with  success.  Grasshoppers  killed  by  a  fungus  cul- 
tivated for  the  purpose.  Introduction  into  the  United 
States  of  the  insect  which  fertilizes  the  Smyrna  fig.       123 

ILES,    GEORGE 

The  Strange  Story  of  the  Flowers:  a 
Chapter  in  Modern  Botany 

Dress  is  important,  whether  natural  or  artificial. 
Because  they  catch  dust  on  their  clothes,  bees,  moths 
and  butterflies  have  brought  about  myriad  espousals 
of  flower  with  flower.  Colours  and  scents  of  blossoms 
attract  insects.  A  flower  which  in  form,  scent  or  hue 
varies  gainfully  is  likely  to  survive  while  .others  perish. 
All  the  parts  of  a  flower  are  leaves  in  disguise.  Floral 
modes  of  repulsion  and  defence.  Plants  which  devour 
insects,  a  habit  gradually  acquired.  The  mesquit  tree 
tells  of  water.  Plants  believed  to  indicate  mineral 
veins.  Seeds  as  emigrants  equipped  with  wings  or 
hooks.  Parasitic  plants  and  their  degradation.  Ten- 
ants that  pay  a  liberal  rent.  The  gardener  as  a  creator 
of  new  flowers.  The  modern  sugar  beet  due  to  Mons. 
Vilmorin 139 


Xll 


THE    NATURALIST    AS 

INTERPRETER  AND 

SEER 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES: 
THE  ARGUMENT  IN  SUMMARY 

Charles  Darwin 

[Charles  Darwin,  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  all  time,  did 
more  to  advance  and  prove  the  theory  of  evolution  than 
anybody  else  who  ever  lived.  This  he  accomplished  by 
virtue  of  the  highest  gifts  of  observation,  experiment,  and 
generalization.  His  truthfulness,  patience,  and  calmness 
of  judgment  have  never  been  exceeded  by  mortal.  His 
works  are  published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York, 
together  with  his  "Life  and  Letters,"  edited  by  his  son 
Francis.  From  "The  Origin  of  Species"  the  argument  in 
summary  is  here  given. fl 

On  the  view  that  species  are  only  strongly 
marked  and  permanent  varieties,  and  that  each 
species  first  existed  as  a  variety,  we  can  see  why 
it  is  that  no  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn 
between  species,  commonly  supposed  to  have 
been  produced  by  special  acts  of  creation,  and 
varieties  which  are  acknowledged  to  have  been 
produced  by  secondary  laws.  On  this  same 
view  we  can  understand  how  it  is  that  in  a  region 
where  many  species  of  a  genus  have  been  pro- 
duced, and  where  they  now  flourish,  these  same 
species  should  present  many  varieties;  for  where 
the  manufactory  of  species  has  been  active,  wo 
might  expect,  as  a  general  rule,  to  find  it  still  in 
action ;  and  this  is  the  case  if  varieties  be  incipient 
3 


tSOPEKTY  LIBRARY 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

species.  Moreover,  the  species  of  the  larger 
genera,  which  afford  the  greater  number  of 
varieties  or  incipient  species,  retain  to  a  certain 
degree  the  character  of  varieties;  for  they  differ 
from  each  other  by  a  less  amount  of  difference 
than  do  the  species  of  smaller  genera.  The 
closely  allied  species  also  of  a  larger  genera  ap- 
parently have  restricted  ranges,  and  in  their 
affinities  they  are  clustered  in  little  groups  round 
other  species — in  both  respects  resembling 
varieties.  These  are  strange  relations  on  the  view 
that  each  species  was  independently  created,  but 
are  intelligible  if  each  existed  first  as  a 
variety. 

As  each  species  tends  by  its  geometrical  rate 
of  reproduction  to  increase  inordinately  in  num- 
ber; and  as  the  modified  descendants  of  each 
species  will  be  enabled  to  increase  by  as  much  as 
they  become  more  diversified  in  habits  and  struc- 
ture, so  as  to  be  able  to  seize  on  many  and  widely 
different  places  in  the  economy  of  nature,  there 
will  be  a  constant  tendency  in  natural  selection 
to  preserve  the  most  divergent  offspring  of  any 
one  species.  Hence,  during  a  long-continued 
course  of  modification,  the  slight  differences  of 
characteristic  of  varieties  of  the  same  species, 
tend  to  be  augmented  into  the  greater  differences 
characteristic  of  the  species  of  the  same  genus. 
New  and  improved  varieties  will  inevitably  sup- 
plant and  exterminate  the  older,  less  improved, 
and  intermediate  varieties;  and  thus  species  are 
rendered  to  a  large  extent  defined  and  distinct 
4 


The   Origin   of   Species 

objects.  Dominant  species  belonging  to  the 
larger  groups  within  each  class  tend  to  give  birth 
to  new  and  dominant  forms;  so  that  each  large 
group  tends  to  become  still  larger,  and  at  the 
same  time  more  divergent  in  character.  But  as 
all  groups  cannot  thus  go  on  increasing  in  size, 
for  the  world  .would  not  hold  them,  the  more 
dominant  groups  beat  the  less  dominant.  This 
tendency  in  the  large  groups  to  go  on  increasing 
in  size  and  diverging  in  character,  together  with 
the  inevitable  contingency  of  much  extinction, 
explains  the  arrangement  of  all  the  forms  of  life 
in  groups  subordinate  to  groups,  all  within  a  few 
great  classes,  which  has  prevailed  throughout  all 
time.  This  grand  fact  of  the  grouping  of  all 
organic  beings  under  what  is  called  the  Natural 
System,  is  utterly  inexplicable  on  the  theory  of 
creation. 

As  natural  selection  acts  solely  by  accumulat- 
ing slight,  successive,  favourable  variations,  it 
can  produce  no  great  or  sudden  modifications; 
it  can  act  only  by  short  and  slow  steps.  Hence, 
the  canon  of  "Nature  makes  no  leaps,"  which 
every  fresh  addition  to  our  knowledge  tends  to 
confirm,  is  on  this  theory  intelligible  We  can 
see  why  throughout  nature  the  same  general  end 
is  gained  by  an  almost  infinite  diversity  of  means, 
for  every  peculiarity  when  once  acquired  is  long 
inherited,  and  structures  already  modified  in 
many  different  ways  have  to  be  adapted  for  the 
same  general  purpose.  We  can,  in  short,  see  why 
nature  is  prodigal  in  variety,  though  niggard  in 
5 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

innovation.  But  why  this  should  be  a  law  of 
nature  if  each  species  has  been  independently 
created  no  man  can  explain. 

Many  other  facts  are,  as  it  seems  to  me,  expli- 
cable on  this  theory.  How  strange  it  is  that  a 
bird,  under  the  form  of  a  woodpecker,  should 
prey  on  insects  on  the  ground;  that  upland  geese 
which  rarely  or  never  swim,  would  possess  webbed 
feet;  that  a  thrush-like  bird  should  dive  and  feed 
on  sub-aquatic  insects;  and  that  a  petrel  should 
have  the  habits  and  structure  fitting  it  for  the 
life  of  an  auk  !  and  so  in  endless  other  cases.  But 
on  the  view  of  each  species  constantly  trying  to 
increase  in  number,  with  natural  selection  always 
ready  to  adapt  the  slowly  varying  descendants 
of  each  to  any  unoccupied  or  ill-occupied  place 
in  nature,  these  facts  cease  to  be  strange,  or 
might  even  have  been  anticipated. 

"We  can  to  a  certain  extent  understand  how  it 
is  that  there  is  so  much  beauty  throughout 
nature;  for  this  may  be  largely  attributed  to  the 
agency  of  selection.  That  beauty,  according  to 
our  sense  of  it,  is  not  universal,  must  be  admitted 
by  every  one  who  will  look  at  some  venomous 
snakes,  at  some  fishes,  and  at  certain  hideous  bats 
with  a  distorted  resemblance  to  the  human  face. 
Sexual  selection  has  given  the  most  brilliant 
colours,  elegant  patterns,  and  other  ornaments 
to  the  males,  and  sometimes  to  both  sexes  of 
many  birds,  butterflies  and  other  animals.  "With 
birds  it  has  often  rendered  the  voice  of  the  male 
musical  to  the  female,  as  well  as  to  our  ears. 
6 


The   Origin  of   Species 

Flowers  and  fruit  have  been  rendered  conspicu- 
ous by  brilliant  colours  in  contrast  with  the  green 
foliage,  in  order  that  the  flowers  may  be  easily 
seen,  visited  and  fertilized  by  insects,  and  the 
seeds  disseminated  by  birds.  How  it  comes  that 
certain  colours,  sounds  and  forms  should  give 
pleasure  to  man  and  the  lower  animals,  that  is, 
how  the  sense  of  beauty  in  its  simplest  form  was 
first  acquired,  we  do  not  know  any  more  than  how 
certain  odours  and  flavours  were  first  rendered 
agreeable. 

As  natural  selection  acts  by  competition,  it 
adopts  and  improves  the  inhabitants  of  each 
country  only  in  relation  to  their  co-inhabitants; 
so  that  we  need  feel  no  surprise  at  the  species  of 
any  one  country,  although  on  the  ordinary  view 
supposed  to  have  been  created  and  specially 
adapted  for  that  country,  being  beaten  and  sup- 
planted by  the  naturalized  productions  from 
another  land.  Nor  ought  we  marvel  if  all  the 
contrivances  in  nature  be  not,  as  far  as  we  can 
judge,  absolutely  perfect,  as  in  the  case  even  of 
the  human  eye;  or  if  some  of  them  be  abhorrent 
to  our  ideas  of  fitness.  We  need  not  marvel  at 
the  sting  of  the  bee,  when  used  against  an 
enemy,  causing  the  bee's  own  death;  at  drones 
being  produced  in  such  great  numbers  for  one 
single  act,  and  being  then  slaughtered  by  their 
sterile  sisters ;  at  the  astonishing  waste  of  pollen 
by  our  fir  trees;  at  the  instinctive  hatred  of  the 
queen  bee  for  her  own  fertile  daughters;  at 
ichneumonidas  feeding  within  the  living  bodies  of 
7 


Masterpieces    of   Science 

caterpillars;  or  at  other  such  cases.  The  wonder 
indeed,  is,  on  the  theory  of  natural  selection,  that 
more  cases  of  the  want  of  absolute  perfection 
have  not  been  detected. 

The  complex  and  little  known  laws  governing 
production  of  varieties  are  the  same,  as  far  as  we 
can  judge,  with  the  laws  which  have  governed 
the  production  of  distinct  species.  In  both 
cases  physical  conditions  seem  to  have  produced 
some  direct  and  definite  effect,  but  how  much  we 
cannot  say.  Thus,  when  varieties  enter  any  new 
station,  they  occasionally  assume  some  of  the 
characters  proper  to  the  species  of  that  station. 
With  both  varieties  and  species,  use  and  disuse 
seem  to  have  produced  a  considerable  effect; 
for  it  is  impossible  to  resist  this  conclusion  when 
we  look,  for  instance,  at  the  logger-headed  duck, 
which  has  wings  incapable  of  flight,  in  nearly 
the  same  condition  as  in  the  domestic  duck;  or 
when  we  look  at  the  burrowing  tucu-tucu,  which 
is  occasionally  blind,  and  then  at  certain  moles, 
which  are  habitually  blind  and  have  their  eyes 
covered  with  skin;  or  when  we  look  at  the  blind 
animals  inhabiting  the  dark  caves  of  America 
and  Europe.  With  varieties  and  species,  cor- 
related variation  seems  to  have  played  an  im- 
portant part,  so  that  when  one  part  has  been 
modified  other  parts  have  been  necessarily  modi- 
fied. With  both  varieties  and  species,  reversions 
to  long-lost  characters  occasionally  occur.  How 
inexplicable  on  the  theory  of  creation  is  the 
occasional  appearance  of  stripes  on  the  shoulders 


The   Origin   of  Species 

and  legs  of  the  several  species  of  the  horse-genus 
and  of  their  hybrids  !  How  simply  is  this  fact 
explained  if  we  believe  that  these  species  are  all 
descended  from  a  striped  progenitor,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  several  domestic  breeds  of  the 
pigeon  are  descended  from  the  blue  and  barred 
rock  pigeon  ! 

On  the  ordinary  view  of  each  species  having 
been  independently  created,  why  should  specific 
characters,  or  those  by  which  the  species  of  the 
same  genus  differ  from  each  other,  be  more 
variable  than  generic  characters  in  which  they 
all  agree  ?  Why,  for  instance,  should  the  colour 
of  a  flower  be  more  likely  to  vary  in  any  one 
species  of  genus,  if  the  other  species  possess  dif- 
ferently coloured  flowers,  than  if  all  possessed 
the  same  coloured  flowers  ?  If  species  are  only 
well-marked  varieties,  of  which  the  characters 
have  become  in  a  high  degree  permanent,  we  can 
understand  this  fact ;  for  they  have  already  varied 
since  they  branched  off  from  a  common  pro- 
genitor in  certain  characters,  by  which  they  have 
come  to  be  specifically  different  from  each  other; 
therefore  these  same  characters  would  be  more 
likely  again  to  vary  than  the  generic  characters 
which  have  been  inherited  without  change  for 
an  immense  period.  It  is  inexplicable  on  the 
theory  of  creation  why  a  part  developed  in  a 
very  unusual  manner  in  one  species  alone  of  a 
genus,  and  therefore,  as  we  may  naturally  infer, 
of  great  importance  to  that  species,  should  be 
eminently  liable  to  variation;  but,  on  our  view, 
9 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

this  part  has  undergone,  since  the  several  species 
branched  off  from  a  common  progenitor,  an  un- 
usual amount  of  variability  and  modification, 
and  therefore  we  might  expect  the  part  generally 
to  be  still  variable.  But  a  part  may  be  developed 
in  the  most  unusual  manner,  like  the  wing  of  a 
bat,  and  yet  not  be  more  variable  than  any  other 
structure,  if  the  part  be  common  to  many  sub- 
ordinate forms,  that  is,  if  it  has  been  inherited 
for  a  very  long  period;  for  in  this  case  it  will  have 
been  rendered  constant  by  long-continued  natural 
selection. 

Glancing  at  instincts,  marvellous  as  some  are, 
they  offer  no  greater  difficulty  than  do  corporeal 
structures  on  the  theory  of  the  natural  selection 
of  successive,  slight,  but  profitable  modifications. 
We  can  thus  understand  why  nature  moves  by 
graduated  steps  in  endowing  certain  animals  of 
the  same  class  with  their  several  instincts.  I 
have  attempted  to  show  how  much  light  the 
principle  of  gradation  throws  on  the  admirable 
architectural  powers  of  the  hive-bee.  Habit  no 
doubt  often  comes  into  play  in  modifying  in- 
stincts; but  it  certainly  is  not  indispensable,  as 
we  see  in  the  case  of  neuter  insects,  which  leave 
no  progeny  to  inherit  the  effects  of  long-continued 
habit.  On  the  view  of  all  the  species  of  the  same 
genus  having  descended  from  a  common  parent, 
and  having  inherited  much  in  common,  we  can 
undertand  how  it  is  that  allied  species,  when 
placed  under  widely  different  conditions  of  life, 
yet  follow  nearly  the  same  instincts;  why  the 
10 


The   Origin  of  Species 

thrushes  of  temperate  and  tropical  South  Amer- 
ica, for  instance,  line  their  nests  with  mud  like 
our  British  species.  On  the  view  of  instincts 
having  been  slowly  acquired  through  natural 
selection,  wc  need  not  marvel  at  some  instincts 
being  not  perfect  and  liable  to  mistakes,  and  at 
many  instincts  causing  other  animals  to  suffer. 

If  species  be  only  well-marked  and  permanent 
varieties,  we  can  see  at  once  why  their  crossed 
offspring  should  follow  the  same  complex  laws 
in  their  degrees  and  kinds  of  resemblance  to 
their  parents — in  being  absorbed  into  each  other 
by  successive  crosses,  and  in  other  such  points — 
as  do  the  crossed  offspring  of  acknowledged 
varieties.  This  similarity  would  be  a  strange 
fact,  if  species  had  been  independently  created 
and  varieties  had  been  produced  through  second- 
ary   laws. 

If  we  admit  that  the  geological  record  is  im- 
perfect to  an  extreme  degree,  then  the  facts, 
which  the  record  does  give,  strongly  support  the 
theory  of  descent  with  modification.  New  species 
have  come  on  the  stage  slowly  and  at  successive 
intervals;  and  the  amount  of  change  after  equal 
intervals  of  time,  is  widely  different  in  different 
groups.  The  extinction  of  species  and  of  whole 
groups  of  species,  which  has  played  so  conspicu- 
ous a  part  in  the  history  of  the  organic  world, 
almost  inevitably  follows  from  the  principle  of 
natural  selection;  for  old  forms  are  supplanted  by 
new  and  improved  forms.  Neither  single  species 
nor  groups  of  species  reappear  when  the  chain  of 
11 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

ordinary  generation  is  once  broken.  The  gradual 
diffusion  of  dominant  forms,  with  the  slow  modi- 
fication of  their  descendants,  causes  the  forms  of 
life,  after  long  intervals  of  time,  to  appear  as  if 
they  had  changed  simultaneously  throughout 
the  world.  The  fact  of  the  fossil  remains  of  each 
formation  being  in  some  degree  intermediate  in 
character  between  the  fossils  in  the  formations 
above  and  below,  is  simply  explained  by  their 
intermediate  position  in  the  chain  of  descent. 
The  grand  fact  that  all  extinct  beings  can  be 
classed  with  all  recent  beings,  naturally  follows 
from  the  living  and  the  extinct  being  the  off- 
spring of  common  parents.  As  species  have 
generally  diverged  in  character  during  their  long 
course  of  descent  and  modification,  we  can  under- 
stand why  it  is  that  the  more  ancient  forms,  or 
early  progenitors  of  each  group,  so  often  occupy 
a  position  in  some  degree  intermediate  between 
existing  groups.  Recent  forms  are  generally 
looked  upon  as  being,  on  the  whole,  higher  in  the 
scale  of  organization  than  ancient  forms;  and 
they  must  be  higher,  in  so  far  as  the  later  and 
more  improved  forms  have  conquered  the  older 
and  less  improved  forms  in  the  struggle  for  life; 
they  have  also  generally  had  their  organs  more 
specialized  for  different  functions.  This  fact  is 
perfectly  compatible  with  numerous  beings  still 
retaining  simple  but  little  improved  structures, 
fitted  for  simple  conditions  of  life;  it  is  likewise 
compatible  with  some  forms  having  retrograded 
in  organization,  by  having  become  at  each  stage 
12 


The   Origin  of   Species 

of  descent  better  fitted  for  new  and  degraded 
habits  of  life.  Lastly,  the  wonderful  law  of  the 
long  endurance  of  allied  forms  on  the  same  con- 
tinent— of  marsupials  [as  kangaroos]  in  Australia, 
of  edentata  [as  armadilloes,  sloths,  and  ant- 
eaters]  in  America,  and  other  such  cases — is 
intelligible,  for  within  the  same  country  the  exist- 
ing and  the  extinct  will  be  closely  allied  by 
descent. 

Looking  to  geographical  distribution,  if  we 
admit  that  there  has  been  during  the  long  course 
of  ages  much  migration  from  one  part  of  the  world 
to  another,  owing  to  former  climatical  and 
geographical  changes  and  to  the  many  occasional 
and  unknown  means  of  dispersal,  then  we  can 
understand,  on  the  theory  of  descent  with  modi- 
fication, most  of  the  great  leading  facts  in  dis- 
tribution. We  can  see  why  there  should  be  so 
striking  a  parallelism  in  the  distribution  of  or- 
ganic beings  throughout  space,  and  in  their 
geological  succession  throughout  time ;  for  in  both 
cases  the  beings  have  been  connected  by  the  bond 
of  ordinary  generation,  and  the  means  of  modifi- 
cation have  been  the  same.  We  see  the  full 
meaning  of  the  wonderful  fact,  which  has  struck 
every  traveller,  namely,  that  on  the  same  con- 
tinent, under  the  most  diverse  conditions,  under 
heat  and  cold,  on  mountain  and  lowland,  on 
deserts  and  marshes,  most  of  the  inhabitants 
within  each  great  class  are  plainly  related;  for 
they  are  the  descendants  of  the  same  progenitors 
and  early  colonists.  On  this  same  principle 
13 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

of  former  migration,  combined  in  most  cases  with 
modification,  we  can  understand  by  the  aid  of 
the  Glacial  period,  the  identity  of  some  few  plants 
and  the  close  alliance  of  many  others,  on  the 
most  distant  mountains,  and  in  the  northern 
and  southern  temperate  zones;  and  likewise  the 
close  alliance  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
sea  in  the  northern  and  southern  temperate 
latitudes,  though  separated  by  the  whole  inter- 
tropical ocean.  Although  two  countries  may 
present  physical  conditions  as  closely  similar 
as  the  same  species  ever  acquire,  we  need  feel 
no  surprise  at  their  inhabitants  being  widely 
different,  if  they  have  been  for  a  long  period 
completely  sundered  from  each  other;  for  as  the 
relation  of  organism  to  organism  is  the  most 
important  of  all  relations,  and  as  the  two  coun- 
tries will  have  received  colonists  at  various 
periods  and  in  different  proportions,  from  some 
other  country  or  from  each  other,  the  course  of 
modification  in  the  two  areas  will  inevitably  have 
been  different. 

On  this  view  of  migration,  with  subsequent 
modification,  we  see  why  oceanic  islands  are 
inhabited  by  only  few  species,  but  of  these,  why 
many  are  peculiar  or  endemic  forms.  We 
clearly  see  why  species  belonging  to  those  groups 
of  animals  which  cannot  cross  wide  spaces  of  the 
ocean,  as  frogs  and  terrestrial  mammals,  do  not 
inhabit  oceanic  islands;  and  why,  on  the  other 
hand,  new  and  peculiar  species  of  bats,  animals 
which  can  traverse  the  ocean,  are  often  found 
14 


The   Origin   of   Species 

on  islands  far  distant  from  any  continent.  Such 
cases  as  the  presence  of  peculiar  species  of  bats 
on  oceanic  islands  and  the  absence  of  all  other 
terrestrial  mammals,  are  facts  utterly  inexpli- 
cable on  the  theory  of  independent  acts  of  crea- 
tion. 

The  existence  of  closely  allied  representative 
species  in  any  two  areas,  implies  on  the  theory  of 
descent  with  modification,  that  the  same  parent- 
forms  formerly  inhabited  both  areas:  and  we 
almost  invariably  find  that  wherever  many 
closely  allied  species  inhabit  two  areas,  some 
identical  species  are  still  common  to  both. 
Wherever  many  closely  allied  yet  distant  species 
occur,  doubtful  forms  and  varieties  belonging 
to  the  same  groups  likewise  occur.  It  is  a  rule  of 
high  generality  that  the  inhabitants  of  each  area 
are  related  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  nearest 
source  whence  immigrants  might  have  been 
derived.  We  see  this  in  the  striking  relation 
of  nearly  all  the  plants  and  animals  of  the  Gala- 
pagos Archipelago,  of  Juan  Fernandez,  and  of 
the  other  American  islands,  to  the  plants  and 
animals  of  the  neighbouring  American  mainland ; 
and  of  those  of  the  Cape  Verde  Archipelago,  and 
of  the  other  African  islands  to  the  African  main- 
land. It  must  be  admitted  that  these  facts  re- 
ceive no  explanation  on  the  theory  of  creation. 
The  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  that  all  past  and 
present  organic  beings  can  be  arranged  within  a 
few  great  classes,  in  groups  subordinate  to  groups, 
and  with  the  extinct  groups  often  falling  in  be- 
15 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

tween  the  recent  groups,  is  intelligible  on  the 
theory  of  natural  selection  with  its  contingencies 
of  extinction  and  divergence  of  character.  On 
these  same  principles  we  see  how  it  is  that  the 
mutual  affinities  of  the  forms  within  each  class 
are  so  complex  and  circuitous.  We  see  why 
certain  characters  are  far  more  serviceable  than 
others  for  classification;  why  adaptive  characters 
derived  from  rudimentary  parts,  though  of  no 
service  to  the  beings,  are  often  of  high  classifi- 
catory  value;  and  why  embryological  characters 
are  often  the  most  valuable  of  all.  The  real 
affinities  of  all  organic  beings,  in  contradistinction 
to  their  adaptive  resemblances,  are  due  to  inherit- 
ance or  community  of  descent.  The  Natural 
System  is  a  genealogical  arrangement,  with  the 
acquired  grades  of  difference,  marked  by  the 
terms,  varieties,  species,  genera,  families,  etc.; 
and  we  have  to  discover  the  lines  of  descent  by 
the  most  permanent  characters,  whatever  they 
may  be,  and  of  however  slight  vital  importance. 
The  similar  framework  of  bones  in  the  hand  of 
a  man,  wing  of  a  bat,  fin  of  the  porpoise,  and  leg 
of  the  horse — the  same  number  of  vertebras  form- 
ing the  neck  of  the  giraffe  and  of  the  elephant — 
and  innumerable  other  such  facts,  at  once  ex- 
plain themselves  on  the  theory  of  descent  with 
slow  and  slight  successive  modifications.  The 
similarity  of  pattern  in  the  wing  and  in  the  leg 
of  a  bat,  though  used  for  such  different  purpose 
— in  the  jaws  and  legs  of  a  crab — in  the  petals, 
stamens,  and  pistils  of  a  flower,  is  likewise,  to  a 
16 


The   Origin  of   Species 

large  extent,  intelligible  on  the  view  of  the 
gradual  modification  of  parts  or  organs,  which 
were  aboriginally  alike  in  an  early  progenitor  in 
each  of  these  classes.  On  the  principle  of  suc- 
cessive variations  not  always  supervening  at  an 
early  age,  and  being  inherited  at  a  corresponding 
not  early  period  of  life,  we  clearly  sec  why  the 
embryos  of  mammals,  birds,  reptiles,  and  fishes 
should  be  so  closely  similar,  and  so  unlike  the 
adult  forms.  We  may  cease  marvelling  at  the 
embryo  of  an  air-breathing  mammal  or  bird 
having  branchial  slits  and  arteries  running  in 
loops,  like  those  of  a  fish  which  has  to  breathe  the 
air  dissolved  in  water  by  the  aid  of  well-developed 
branchiae  [gills]. 

Disuse,  aided  sometimes  by  natural  selection, 
will  often  have  reduced  organs  when  rendered 
useless  under  changed  habits  or  conditions  of 
life;  and  we  can  understand  on  this  view  the 
meaning  of  rudimentary  organs.  But  disuse 
and  selection  will  generally  act  on  each  creature, 
when  it  has  come  to  maturity  and  has  to  play  its 
full  part  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  will 
thus  have  little  power  in  an  organ  during  early 
life;  hence  the  organ  will  not  be  reduced  or  ren- 
dered, rudimentary  at  this  early  age.  The  calf, 
for  instance,  has  inherited  teeth,  which  never  cut 
through  the  gums  of  the  upper  jaw,  from  an  early 
progenitor  having  well-developed  teeth;  and  we 
may  believe,  that  the  teeth  in  the  mature  animal 
were  formerly  reduced  by  disuse,  (.wing  to  the 
tongue  and  palate,  or  lips,  having  become  ex- 
17 


Masterpieces   of  Science 

cellently  fitted  through  natural  selection  to 
browse  without  their  aid;  whereas  in  the  calf,  the 
teeth  have  been  left  unaffected,  and  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  inheritance  at  corresponding  ages  have 
been  inherited  from  a  remote  period  to  the  present 
day.  On  the  view  of  each  organism  with  all  its 
separate  parts  having  been  specially  created, 
how  utterly  inexplicable  is  it  that  organs  bearing 
the  plain  stamp  of  inutility,  such  as  the  teeth  in 
the  embryonic  calf  or  the  shrivelled  wings  under 
the  soldered  wing  covers  of  many  beetles,  should 
so  frequently  occur.  Nature  may  be  said  to  have 
taken  pains  to  reveal  her  scheme  of  modification, 
by  means  of  rudimentary  organs,  of  embryo- 
logical  and  homologous  [corresponding]  struc- 
tures, but  we  are  too  blind  to  understand  her 
meaning. 

I  have  now  recapitulated  the  facts  and  con- 
siderations which  have  thoroughly  convinced  me 
that  species  have  been  modified,  during  a  long 
course  of  descent.  This  has  been  effected  chiefly 
through  the  natural  selection  of  numerous  suc- 
cessive, slight,  favourable  variations;  aided  in  an 
important  manner  by  the  inherited  effects  of  the 
use  and  disuse  of  parts;  and  in  an  unimportant 
manner,  that  is,  in  relation  to  adaptive  structures, 
whether  past  or  present,  by  the  direct  action  of 
external  conditions,  and  by  variations  which 
seem  to  us  in  our  ignorance  to  arise  spontaneously. 
It  appears  that  I  formerly  underrated  the  fre- 
quency and  value  of  these  latter  forms  of  varia- 
tion, as  leading  to  permanent  modifications  of 
18 


The   Origin   of   Species 

structure  independently  of  natural  selection. 
But  as  my  conclusions  have  lately  been  much 
misrepresented,  and  it  has  been  stated  that  I 
attribute  the  modification  of  species  exclusively 
to  natural  selection,  I  may  be  permitted  to  re- 
mark that  in  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  and 
subsequently,  I  placed  in  a  most  conspicuous 
position — namely,  at  the  close  of  the  Introduc- 
tion— the  following  words:  "I  am  convinced 
that  natural  selection  has  been  the  main  but  not 
the  exclusive  means  of  modification.  "  This  has 
been  of  no  avail.  Great  is  the  power  of  steady 
misrepresentation;  but  the  history  of  science 
shows  that  fortunately  this  power  does  not  long 
endure. 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  a  false  theory 
would  explain,  in  so  satisfactory  a  manner  as  does 
the  theory  of  natural  selection,  the  several  large 
.classes  of  facts  above  specified.  It  has  recently 
been  objected  that  this  is  an  unsafe  method  of 
arguing;  but  it  is  a  method  used  in  judging  the 
common  events  of  life,  and  has  often  been  used 
by  the  greatest  natural  philosophers.  The  un- 
dulatory  theory  of  light  has  thus  been  arrived  at; 
and  the  belief  in  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its 
own  axis  was  until  lately  supported  by  hardly  any 
direct  evidence.  It  is  no  valid  objection  that 
science  as  yet  throws  no  light  on  the  far  higher 
problems  of  th  esseence  of  the  origin  of  life.  Who 
can  explain  what  is  the  essence  of  the  attraction 
of  gravity  ?  No  one  now  objects  to  following  out 
the  results  consequent  on  this  unknown  element 
19 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

of  attraction;  notwithstanding  that  Leibnitz 
formerly  accused  Newton  of  introducing  "occult 
qualities  and  miracles  into  philosophy." 

I  see  no  good  reasons  why  the  views  given  in 
this  volume  should  shock  the  religious  feelings 
of  any  one.  It  is  satisfactory,  as  showing  how 
transient  such  impressions  are,  to  remember  that 
the  greatest  discovery  ever  made  by  man,  namely, 
the  law  of  the  attraction  of  gravity,  was  also 
attacked  by  Leibnitz,  "as  subversive  of  natural, 
and  inferentially  of  revealed  religion. "  A 
celebrated  author  and  divine  has  written  to  me 
that  "he  has  gradually  learned  to  see  that  it  is 
just  as  noble  a  conception  of  the  Deity  to  believe 
that  He  created  a  few  original  forms  capable  of 
self-development  into  other  and  needful  forms,  as 
to  believe  that  He  required  a  fresh  act  of  creation 
to  supply  the  voids  caused  by  the  action  of  His 
laws. " 

Why,  it  may  be  asked,  until  recently  did  nearly 
all  the  most  eminent  living  naturalists  and  geo- 
logists disbelieve  in  the  mutability  of  species  ? 
It  cannot  be  asserted  that  organic  beings  in  a 
state  of  nature  are  subject  to  no  variation;  it  can- 
not be  proved  that  the  amount  of  variation  in  the 
course  of  long  ages  is  a  limited  quantity;  no  clear 
distinction  has  been,  or  can  be,  drawn  between 
species  and  well-marked  varieties.  It  cannot  be 
maintained  that  species  when  intercrossed  are 
invariably  sterile  and  varieties  invariably  fertile ; 
or  that  sterility  is  a  special  endowment  and  sign 
of  creation.  The  belief  that  species  were  im- 
20 


The   Origin  of   Species 

mutable  productions  was  almost  unavoidable  as 
long  as  the  history  of  the  world  was  thought  to 
be  of  short  duration;  and  now  that  we  have 
acquired  some  idea  of  the  lapse  of  time,  we  are 
too  apt  to  assume,  without  proof,  that  the  geo- 
logical record  is  so  perfect  that  it  would  have 
afforded  us  plain  evidence  of  the  mutation  of 
species,  if  they  had  undergone  mutation. 

But  the  chief  cause  of  our  natural  unwilling- 
ness to  admit  that  one  species  has  given  birth  to 
other  and  distinct  species,  is  that  we  are  always 
slow  in  admitting  great  changes  of  which  we  do 
not  see  the  steps.  The  difficulty  is  the  same  as 
that  felt  by  so  many  geologists,  when  Lyell  first 
insisted  that  long  lines  of  inland  cliffs  had  been 
formed,  and  great  valleys  excavated,  by  the 
agencies  which  we  still  see  at  work.  The  mind 
cannot  possibly  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  the 
term^of  even  a  million  years;  it  cannot  add  up 
and  perceive  the  full  effects  of  many  slight  varia- 
tions, accumulated  during  an  almost  infinite  num- 
ber of  generations. 

Although  I  am  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
the  views  given  in  this  volume  under  the  form  of 
an  abstract,  I  by  no  means  expect  to  convince 
experienced  naturalists  whose  minds  are  stocked 
with  a  multitude  of  facts  all  viewed,  during  a  long 
course  of  years,  from  a  point  of  view  directly 
opposite  to  mine.  It  is  so  easy  to  hide  our  ignor- 
ance under  such  expressions  as  the  "plan  of 
creation,"  "unity  of  design,"  etc.,  and  to  think 
that  we  give  an  explanation  when  we  only  re- 
21 


Masterpieces    of   Science 

state  a  fact.  Any  one  whose  disposition  leads 
him  to  attach  more  weight  to  unexplained  dif- 
ficulties than  to  the  explanation  of  a  certain  num- 
ber of  facts  will  certainly  reject  the  theory.  A 
few  naturalists,  endowed  with  much  flexibility  of 
mind,  and  who  have  already  begun  to  doubt  the 
immutability  of  species,  may  be  influenced  by 
this  volume;  but  I  look  with  confidence  to  the 
future,  to  young  and  rising  naturalists,  who  will 
be  able  to  view  both  side,s  of  the  question  with 
impartiality.  Whoever  is  led  to  believe  that 
species  are  mutable  will  do  good  service  by  con- 
scientiously expressing  his  conviction;  for  thus 
only  can  the  load  of  prejudice  by  which  this  sub- 
ject is  overwhelmed  be  removed. 

Several  eminent  naturalists  have  of  late  pub- 
lished their  belief  that  a  multitude  of  reputed 
species  in  each  genus  are  not  real  species;  but 
that  other  species  are  real,  that  is,  have  been 
independently  created.  This  seems  to  me  a 
strange  conclusion  to  arrive  at.  They  admit  that 
a  multitude  of  forms,  which  till  lately  they  them- 
selves thought  were  special  creations,  and  which 
are  still  thus  looked  at  by  the  majority  of  natur- 
alists, and  which  consequently  have  all  the  ex- 
ternal characteristic  features  of  true  species— 
they  admit  that  these  have  been  produced  by 
variation,  but  they  refuse  to  extend  the  same 
view  to  other  and  slightly  different  forms. 
Nevertheless,  they  do  not  pretend  that  they  can 
define,  or  even  conjecture,  which  are  the  created 
forms  of  life,  and  which  are  those  produced  by 
22 


The   Origin   of   Species 

secondary  laws.  They  admit  variation  as  a  true 
cause  in  one  case,  they  arbitrarily  reject  it  in 
another,  without  assigning  any  distinction  in  the 
two  cases.  The  day  will  come  when  this  will  be 
given  as  a  curious  illustration  of  the  blindness  of 
preconceived  opinion.  These  authors  seem  no 
more  startled  at  a  miraculous  act  of  creation  than 
at  an  ordinary  birth.  But  do  they  really  believe 
that  at  innumerable  periods  in  the  earth's  history 
certain  elemental  atoms  have  been  commanded 
suddenly  to  flash  into  living  tissues?  Do  they 
believe  that  at  each  supposed  act  of  creation  one 
individual  or  many  were  produced  ?  Were  all 
the  infinite  numerous  kinds  of  animals  and  plants 
created  as  eggs  or  seed,  or  as  full  grown  ?  and  in 
the  case  of  mammals,  were  they  created  bearing 
the  false  marks  of  nourishment  from  the  mother's 
womb  ?  Undoubtedly  some  of  these  same  ques- 
tions cannot  be  answered  by  those  who  believe 
in  the  appearance  or  creation  of  only  a  few  forms 
of  life,  or  of  some  one  form  alone.  It  has  been 
maintained  by  several  authors  that  it  is  as  easy  to 
believe  in  the  creation  of  a  million  beings  as  of 
one;  but  Maupertuis's  philosophical  axiom  "of 
least  action"  leads  the  mind  more  willingly  to 
admit  the  smaller  number;  and  certainly  we 
ought  not  to  believe  that  innumerable  beings 
within  each  great  class  have  been  created  with 
plain,  but  deceptive,  marks  of  descent  from  a 
single  parent. 

As  a  record  of  a  former  state  of  things,  I  have 
retained  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs,  and  else- 
23 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

where,  several  sentences  which  imply  that  natur- 
alists believe  in  the  separate  creation  of  each 
species;  and  I  have  been  much  censured  for  hav- 
ing thus  expressed  myself.  But  undoubtedly 
this  was  the  general  belief  when  the  first  edition 
of  the  present  work  appeared.  I  formerly  spoke 
to  very  many  naturalists  on  the  subject  of  evolu- 
tion, and  never  once  met  with  any  sympathetic 
agreement.  It  is  probable  that  some  did  then 
believe  in  evolution,  but  they  were  either  silent 
or  expressed  themselves  so  ambiguously  that  it 
was  not  easy  to  understand  their  meaning. 
Now,  things  are  wholly  changed,  and  almost 
every  naturalist  admits  the  great  principle  of 
evolution.  There  are,  however,  some  who  still 
think  that  species  have  suddenly  given  birth, 
through  quite  unexplained  means,  to  new  and 
totally  different  forms.  But,  as  I  have  attempted 
to  show,  weighty  evidence  can  be  opposed  to 
the  admission  of  great  and  abrupt  modifications. 
Under  a  scientific  point  of  view,  and  as  leading 
to  further  investigation,  but  little  advantage  is 
gained  by  believing  that  new  forms  are  suddenly 
developed  in  an  inexplicable  manner  from  old 
and  widely  different  forms,  over  the  old  belief 
in  the  creation  of  species  from  the  dust  of  the 
earth. 

It  may  be  asked  how  far  I  extend  the  doctrine 
of  the  modification  of  species.  The  question  is 
difficult  to  answer,  because  the  more  distinct  the 
forms  are  which  we  consider,  by  so  much  the 
arguments  in  favour  of  community  of  descent 
24 

FMOtEKTY  LIBRARY 


The   Origin   of   Species 

become  fewer  in  number  and  less  in  force.  But 
some  arguments  of  the  greatest  weight  extend 
very  far.  All  the  members  of  whole  classes  are 
connected  together  by  a  chain  of  affinities,  and 
all  can  be  classed  on  the  same  principle,  in  groups 
subordinate  to  groups.  Fossil  remains  some- 
times tend  to  fill  up  very  wide  intervals  between 
existing  orders. 

Organs  in  a  rudimentary  condition  plainly 
show  that  an  early  progenitor  had  the  organ  in  a 
fully  developed  condition,  and  this  in  some  cases 
implies  an  enormous  amount  of  modification  in 
the  descendants.  Throughout  whole  classes 
various  structures  are  formed  on  the  same  pat- 
tern, and  at  a  very  early  age  the  embryos  closely 
resemble  each  other.  Therefore  I  cannot  doubt 
that  the  theory  of  descent  with  modification 
embraces  all  the  members  of  the  same  great  class 
or  kingdom.  I  believe  that  animals  arc  de- 
scended from  at  most  only  four  or  five  progeni- 
tors, and  plants  from  an  equal  or  lesser  number. 

Analogy  would  lead  me  one  step  further, 
namely,  to  the  belief  that  all  animals  and  plants 
are  descended  from  some  one  prototype.  But 
analogy  may  be  a  deceitful  guide.  Nevertheless 
all  living  things  have  much  in  common,  in  their 
chemical  composition,  their  cellular  structure, 
their  laws  of  growth,  and  their  liability  to  in- 
jurious influences.  We  see  this  even  in  so  trifling 
a  fact  as  that  the  same  poison  often  similarly 
affects  plants  and  animals;  or  that  the  poison 
secreted  by  the  gall-fly  produces  monstrous 
25 


Masterpieces  of   Science 

growths  on  the  wild  rose  or  oak  tree.  \  \  ;th  all 
organic  beings,  excepting  perhaps  some  of  the 
very  lowest,  sexual  reproduction  seems  to  be 
essentially  similar.  With  all,  as  far  as  is  at 
present  known,  the  germinal  vesicle  is  the  same; 
so  that  all  organisms  start  from  a  common  origin. 
If  we  look  even  to  the  two  main  divisions — ■ 
namely,  to  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms 
— certain  low  forms  are  so  far  intermediate  in 
character  that  naturalists  have  disputed  to  which 
kingdom  they  should  be  referred.  As  Professor 
Asa  Gray  has  remarked,  "the  spores  and  other 
reproductive  bodies  of  many  of  the  lower  algae 
may  claim  to  have  first  a  characteristically 
animal,  and  then  an  unequivocally  vegetable 
existence."  Therefore,  on  the  principle  of  nat- 
tural  selection  with  divergence  of  character,  it 
does  not  seem  incredible  that,  from  some  such 
low  and  intermediate  form,  both  animals  and 
plants  may  have  been  developed;  and,  if  we  admit 
this,  we  must  likewise  admit  that  all  the  organic 
beings  which  have  ever  lived  on  this  earth  may  be 
descended  from  some  one  primordial  form.  But 
this  inference  is  chiefly  grounded  on  analogy,  and 
it  is  immaterial  whether  or  not  it  is  accepted. 
No  doubt  it  is  possible,  as  Mr.  G.  H.  Lewes  has 
urged,  that  at  the  first  commencement  of  life 
many  different  forms  were  evolved;  but  if  so,  we 
may  conclude  that  only  a  very  few  have  left 
modified  descendants.  For,  as  I  have  recently 
remarked  in  regard  to  the  members  of  each  great 
kingdom,  such  as  the  Vertebrata,  Articulata,  etc., 
26 


The    Origin   of   Species 

we  have  distinct  evidence  in  their  embryological, 
homologous,  and  rudimentary  structures,  that 
within  each  kingdom  all  the  members  arc  de- 
scended from  a  single  progenitor. 

When  the  views  advanced  by  me  in  this  volume, 
and  by  .Air.  Wallace,  or  when  analogous  views  on 
the  origin  of  species  are  generally  admitted,  we 
ran  dimly  foresee  that  there  will  be  a  considerable 
revolution  in  natural  history.  Systematists  will 
be  able  to  pursue  their  labours  as  at  present;  but 
they  will  not  be  incessantly  haunted  by  the 
shadowy  doubt  whether  this  or  that  form  be  a 
true  species.  This,  I  feel  sure  and  I  speak  after 
experience,  Mill  be  no  slight  relief.  The  endless 
disputes  whether  or  not  some  fifty  species  of 
British  brambles  are  good  species  will  cease. 
Systematists  will  have  only  to  decide  (not  that 
this  will  be  easy)  whether  any  form  be  sufficiently 
constant  and  distinct  from  other  forms,  to  be 
capable  of  definition;  and  if  definable,  whether 
the  differences  be  sufficiently  important  to 
deserve  a  specific  name.  This  latter  point  will 
become  a  far  more  essential  consideration  than  it 
is  at  present;  for  differences,  however  slight, 
between  any  two  forms,  if  not  blended  by  inter- 
mediate gradations,  are  looked  at  by  most  natur- 
alists as  sufficient  to  raise  both  forms  to  the  rank 
of  species. 

Hereafter  we  shall  be  compelled  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  only  distinction  between  sj 
and  well-marked  varieties  is.   that  the  latter  are 
known,  or  believed  to  be  connected  at  the  pr 
27 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

day  by  intermediate  gradations,  whereas  species 
were  formerly  thus  connected.  Hence,  without 
rejecting  the  considerations  of  the  present  exist- 
ence of  intermediate  gradations  between  any 
two  forms,  we  shall  be  led  to  weigh  more  carefully 
and  to  value  higher  the  actual  amount  of  differ- 
ence between  them.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
forms  now  generally  acknowledged  to  be  merely 
varieties  may  hereafter  be  thought  worthy  of 
specific  names;  and  in  this  case  scientific  and  com- 
mon language  will  come  into  accordance.  In 
short,  we  shall  have  to  treat  species  in  the  same 
manner  as  those  naturalists  treat  genera,  who 
admit  that  genera  are  merely  artificial  combina- 
tions made  for  convenience.  This  may  not  be  a 
cheering  prospect;  but  we  shall  at  least  be  freed 
from  the  vain  search  for  the  undiscovered  and 
undiscoverable  essence  of  the  term  species. 

The  other  and  more  general  departments  of 
natural  history  will  rise  greatly  in  interest.  The 
terms  used  by  naturalists,  of  affinity,  relation- 
ship, community  of  type,  paternity,  morphology 
[the  science  of  organic  form],  adaptive  characters, 
rudimentary  and  aborted  organs,  etc.,  will  cease 
to  be  metaphorical  and  will  have  a  plain  significa- 
tion. When  we  no  longer  look  at  an  organic 
being  as  a  savage  looks  at  a  ship,  as  something 
wholly  beyond  his  comprehension;  when  we 
regard  every  production  of  nature  as  one  which 
has  had  a  long  history;  when  we  contemplate 
every  complex  structure  and  instinct  as  the  sum- 
ming up  of  many  contrivances,  each  useful  to  the 
28 


The    Origin   of   Species 

possessor,  in  the  same  way  as  any  great  mechan- 
ical invention  is  the  summing  up  of  the  labour, 
the  experience,  the  reason,  and  even  the  blunders 
of  numerous  workmen ;  when  we  thus  view  each 
organic  being,  how  far  more  interesting — I  speak 
from  experience — does  the  study  of  natural  his- 
tory become  ! 

A  grand  and  almost  untrodden  field  of  inquiry 
will  be  opened,  on  the  causes  and  laws  of  varia- 
tion, on  correlation,  on  the  effects  of  use  and  dis- 
use, on  the  direct  action  of  external  conditions, 
and  so  forth.  The  study  of  domestic  productions 
will  rise  immensely  in  value.  A  new  variety 
raised  by  man  will  be  a  more  important  and 
interesting  subject  for  study  than  one  more 
species  added  to  the  infinitude  of  already  recorded 
species.  Our  classifications  will  come  to  be,  as 
far  as  they  can  be  so  made,  genealogies;  and  will 
then  truly  give  what  may  be  called  the  plan  of 
creation.  The  rules  for  classifying  will  no  doubt 
become  simpler  when  we  have  a  definite  object 
in  view.  We  possess  no  pedigree  or  armorial 
bearings;  and  we  have  to  discover  and  trace  the 
many  diverging  lines  of  descent  in  our  natural 
genealogies,  by  characters  of  any  kind  which  have 
long  been  inherited.  Rudimentary*  organs  will 
speak  infallibly  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  long- 
lost  structures.  Species  and  groups  of  sj>. 
which  arc  called  aberrant,  and  which  may  fan- 
cifully be  called  living  fossils,  will  aid  us  in  form- 
ing a  picture  of  the  ancient  forms  of  life.  Em- 
*  Vestigial  is  now  preferred  to  rudimentary  as  a  term. — Ed. 
29 


Masterpieces  of   Science 

bryology  will  often  reveal  to  us  the  structure,  in 
some  degree  obscured,  of  the  prototypes  of  each 
great  class. 

When  we  can  feel  assured  that  all  the  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  species,  and  all  the  closely 
allied  species  of  most  genera,  have,  within  a  not 
very  remote  period  descended  from  one  parent, 
and  have  migrated  from  some  one  birth-place; 
and  when  we  better  know  the  many  means  of 
migration,  then,  by  the  light  which  geology  now 
throws,  and  will  continue  to  throw,  on  former 
changes  of  climate  and  of  the  level  of  the  land, 
we  shall  surely  be  enabled  to  trace  in  an  admir- 
able manner  the  former  migrations  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  whole  world.  Even  at  present,  by 
comparing  the  differences  between  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  sea  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  con- 
tinent, and  the  nature  of  the  various  inhabitants 
on  that  continent  in  relation  to  their  apparent 
means  of  immigration,  some  light  can  be  thrown 
on  ancient  geography. 

The  noble  science  of  geology  loses  glory  from 
the  extreme  imperfection  of  the  record.  The 
crust  of  the  earth,  with  its  imbedded  remains, 
must  not  be  looked  at  as  a  well-rilled  museum, 
but  as  a  poor  collection  made  at  hazard  and  at 
rare  intervals.  The  accumulation  of  each  great 
fossiliferous  formation  will  be  recognized  as  hav- 
ing depended  on  an  unusual  occurrence  of  favour- 
able circumstances,  and  the  blank  intervals  be- 
tween the  successive  stages  as  having  been  of 
vast  duration.  But  we  shall  be  able  to  gauge 
30 


The    Origin   of   Speci 

with  some  security  the  duration  of  these  intervals 
by  a  comparison  of  the  preceding  and  succeeding 
organic  forms.  We  must  be  cautious  in  attempt- 
ing to  correlate  as  strictly  contemporaneous  two 
formations,  which  do  not  include  many  identical 
species,  by  the  general  succession  of  the  forms  of 
life. 

As  species  are  produced  and  exterminated  by 
slowly  acting  and  still  existing  causes,  and  not  by 
miraculous  acts  of  creation;  and  as  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  causes  of  organic  change  is  one  which 
is  almost  independent  of  altered  and  perhaps 
suddenly  altered  physical  conditions,  namely, 
the  mutual  relation  of  organism  to  organism — 
the  improvement  of  one  organism  entailing  t he- 
improvement  or  the  extermination  of  others;  it 
follows,  that  the  amount  of  organic  change  in 
the  fossils  of  consecutive  formations  probablv 
serves  as  a  fair  measure  of  the  relative,  though 
not  actual  lapse  of  time.  A  number  of  sp< 
however,  keeping  in  a  body  might  remain  for  a 
long  period  unchanged,  while  within  the  same 
period,  several  of  these  species,  by  migrating  into  • 
new  countries  and  coming  into  competition  with 
foreign  associates,  might  become  modified;  so 
that  we  must  not  overrate  the  accuracy  of  organic 
change  as  a  measure  of  time. 

In  the  future  I  see  open  fields  for  far  more 
important  researches.  Psychology  will  be  se- 
curely based  on  the  foundation  already  well  laid 
by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  that  of  the  necessary 
acquirement  of  each  mental  power  and  capacity 
31 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

by  gradation.     Much  light  will  be  thrown  on  the 
origin  of  man  and  his  history. 

Authors  of  the  highest  eminence  seem  to  be 
fully  satisfied  with  the    view  that  each    species 
has  been  independently  created.     To  my  mind 
it  accords  better  with  what  we  know  of  the  laws 
impressed  on  matter  by  the  Creator,   that  the 
production  and  extinction  of  the  past  and  present 
inhabitants  of  the  world  should  have  been  due 
to  secondary  causes,  like  those  determining  the 
birth  and  death  of  the  individual.     When  I  view 
all  beings  as  not  special  creations,   but  as  the 
lineal    descendants    of   some    few   beings   which 
lived  long  before  the  first  bed  of  the  Cambrian 
system  was  deposited,  they  seem  to  me  to  be- 
come ennobled.     Judging  from  the  past,  we  may 
safely  infer  that  not  one  living  species  will  trans- 
mit its  unaltered  likeness  to  a  distant  futurity. 
And  of  the  species  now  living  very  few  will  trans- 
mit progeny  of  any  kind  to  a  far  distant  futurity ; 
for  the  manner  in  which  all  organic  beings  are 
grouped,    shows    that    the    greater    number    of 
species  in  each  genus,  and  all  the  species  in  many 
genera,  have  left  no  descendants,  but  have  be- 
come utterly  extinct.      We  can  so  far  take  a  pro- 
phetic glance  into  futurity  as  to  foretell  that  it 
will  be  the  common  and  widely  spread  species, 
belonging  to   the   larger   and   dominant   groups 
within  each  class,  which  will  ultimately  prevail 
and  procreate  new  and  dominant  species.     As  all 
the  living  forms  of  life  are  the  lineal  descendants 
of  those  which  lived  long  before  the  Cambrian 
32 


The    Origin   of   Species 

epoch,  we  may  feel  certain  thai  the  ordinary  suc- 
cession 1  >y  generation  has  never  oner  1  >een  1  ir<  >ken , 
and  that  no  cataclysm  has  desolated  the  whole 
world.  Hence,  we  may  look  with  some  con- 
fidence to  a  secure  future  of  great  length.  And 
as  natural  selection  works  solely  by  and  for  the 
good  of  each  being,  all  corporeal  and  mental 
endowments  will  tend  to  progress  toward  |  -  in- 
fection. 

It  is  interesting  to  contemplate  a  tangled 
bank,  clothed  with  many  plants  of  many  kinds, 
with  birds  singing  on  the  bushes,  with  various 
insects  flitting  about,  and  with  worms  crawling 
through  the  damp  earth,  and  to  reflect  that 
these  elaborately  constructed  forms,  so  d;fterent 
from  each  other,  and  dependent  upon  each 
other  in  so  complex  a  manner,  have  all  been 
produced  by  laws  acting  around  us.  These 
laws  taken  in  the  largest  sense,  being  growth 
with  reproduction;  Inheritance  which  is  almost 
implied  by  reproduction;  Variability  from  the 
indirect  and  direct  action  of  the  conditions  of 
life,  and  from  use  and  disuse:  a  Ratio  of  In- 
crease so  high  as  to  lead  to  a  Struggle  for  Life, 
and  as  a  consequence  to  Natural  Selection, 
entailing  divergence  of  Character  and  the 
Extinction  of  less  improved  forms.  Tint-',  from 
the  war  of  nature,  from,  famine  and  death,  the 
most  exalted  object  which  we  are  capabl 
conceiving,  namely,  the  production  of  the  higher 
animals,  directly  follows.  There  is  grandeur 
in  this  view  of  life,  with  its  several  powers, 
33 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

having  been  originally  breathed  by  the  Creator 
into  a  few  forms  or  into  one;  and  that,  while 
this  planet  has  gone  circling  on  according  to 
the  fixed  law  of  gravity,  from  so  simple  a  be- 
ginning endless  forms  most  beautiful  and  most 
wonderful  have  been,  and  are  being  evolved. 


34 


NOW   "THE  ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES"  CAME 
TO    BE    WRITTEN. 

[An  extract  from  the  autobiography  of  Charles  Darwin, 
in  "The  Life  and  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin,"  New  York, 
D.  Appleton  &  I 

From  September,  1854,  I  devoted  my  whole 
time  to  arranging  my  huge  pile  of  notes,  to  ob- 
serving and  to  experimenting  in  relation  to  the 
transmutation  of  species.  During  the  voyage 
of  the  Beagle  I  had  been  deeply  impressed  by 
discovering  in  the  Pampean  formation  great 
fossil  animals  covered  with  armour  like  that  on 
the  existing  armadilloes;  secondly,  by  the 
manner  in  which  closely  allied  animals  replace 
one  another  in  proceeding  southwards  over 
the  continent:  and,  thirdly,  by  the  South 
American  character  of  most  of  the  productions 
of  the  Galapagos  Archipelago,  and  more  espe- 
cially by  the  manner  in  which  these  differ  slightly 
on  each  island  of  the  group,  none  of  these  islands 
appearing  to  be  very  ancient  in  »a  geological 
sense. 

It  was  evident  that  such  facts  as  these,  as 
well  as  many  others,  could  only  be  explained 
on  the  supposition  that  species  gradually 
become  modified;  and  the  subject  haunted  me. 
But  it  was  equally  evident  that  neither  the 
action  of  the  surrounding  conditions,  nor  the 
35 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

will  of  the  organisms  (especially  in  the  case  of 
plants)  could  account  .  for  the  innumerable 
cases  in  which  organisms  of  every  kind  are 
beautifully  adapted  to  their  habits  of  life — for 
instance,  a  woodpecker  or  a  tree-frog  to  climb 
trees,  or  a  seed  for  dispersal  by  hooks  or  plumes. 
I  had  always  been  much  struck  by  such  adapta- 
tions, and  until  these  could  be  explained  it 
seemed  to  me  almost  useless  to  endeavour  to 
prove  by  indirect  evidence  that  species  have 
been  modified. 

After  my  return  to  England  it  appeared  to 
me  that  by  following  the  example  of  Lyell  in 
geology.*  and  by  collecting  all  facts  that  bore 
in  any  way  on  the  variation  of  animals  and 
plants  under  domestication  and  nature,  some 
light  might  perhaps  be  thrown  on  the  whole 
subject.  My  first  note-book  was  opened  in 
July,  1837.  I  worked  on  true  Baconian  prin- 
ciples, and  without  any  theory  collected  facts 
on  a  wholesale  scale,  more  especially  with 
respect  to  domesticated  productions,  by  printed 
enquiries,  by  conversation  with  skilful  breeders 
and  gardeners  and  by  extensive  reading.  When 
I  see  the  list  of  books  of  all  kinds  which  I  read 
and  abstracted,  including  whole  series  of 
journals  and  translations,  I  am  surprised  at 
my  industry.  I  soon  perceived  that  selection 
was  the  keystone  of  man's  success  in  making 
useful  races  of  animals  and  plants.      But  how 

•  *  See  Masterpieces  of  Science,  Vo).  I,  "  Earth  and  Sky," 
Sir  Charles  Lyell  on  Uniformity  in  geological  change. 
36 


How   It   Came   to    Be    Written 

selection  could  be  applied  to  organisms  living 
in  a  state  of  nature  remained  for  some  time  a 
mystery  to  me. 

In  October,  1838,  that  is  fifteen  months  after 
1  had  begun  my  systematic  enquiry,  I  hap- 
pened to  read  for  amusement  "  Malthus  on 
Population,"  and  being  well  prepared  to  ap- 
preciate the  struggle  for  existence  which  every- 
where goes  on  from  long-continued  observation 
of  the  habits  of  animals  and  plants,  it  at  once 
struck  me  that  under  these  circumstances 
favourable  variations  would  tend  to  be  pre- 
served and  unfavourable  ones  to  be  destroyed. 
The  result  of  this  would  be  the  formation  of 
a  new  species.  Here  then  I  had  at  last  got  a 
theory  by  which  to  work;  but  I  was  so  anxious 
to  avoid  prejudice  that  I  determined  not  for 
some  time  to  write  even  the  briefest  sketch  of 
it.  In  June,  1842,  I  first  allowed  myself  the 
satisfaction  of  writing  a  very  brief  abstract  of 
my  theory  in  pencil  in  35  pages;  and  this  was 
enlarged  during  the  summer  of  1S44  into  one 
of  230  pages,  which  I  had  fairly  copied  out 
and  still  possess. 

But  at  that  time  I  overlooked  one  problem 
of  great  importance;  and  it  is  astonishing  to 
me,  except  on  the  principle  of  Columbus  and 
his  egg,  how  I  could  have  overlooked  it  and 
its  solution.  This  problem  is  the  tendency  in 
organic  beings  descended  from  the  same  stock 
to  diverge  in  character  as  they  become  modilird. 
That  they  have  diverged  greatly  is  obvious 
37 


Masterpieces    of   Science 

from  the  manner  in  which  species  of  all  kinds 
can  be  classed  under  genera,  genera  under 
families,  families  under  sub-orders  and  so  forth; 
and  I  can  remember  the  very  spot  on  the  road, 
whilst  in  my  carriage,  when  to  my  joy  the 
solution  occurred  to  me;  and  this  was  long  after 
I  had  come  to  Down.  This  solution,  as  I  believe, 
is  that  the  modified  offspring  of  all  dominant 
and  increasing  forms  tend  to  become  adapted 
to  man}*  and  highly  diversified  places  in  the 
economy   of  nature. 

Early  in  1856  Lyell  advised  me  to  write 
out  m}-  views  pretty  fully,  and  I  began  at  once 
to  do  so  on  a  scale  three  or  four  times  as  ex- 
tensive as  that  which  was  afterwards  followed 
in  my  "Origin  of  Species;"  yet  it  was  only  an 
abstract  of  the  materials  which  I  had  collected 
and  I  got  through  about  half  the  work  on 
this  scale.  But  my  plans  were  overthrown, 
for  early  in  the  summer  of  18 58  Mr.  Wallace, 
who  was  then  in  the  Malay  Archipelago,  sent 
me  an  essay  '  'On  the  tendency  of  varieties 
to  depart  indefinitely  from  the  original  type;" 
and  this  essay  contained  exactly  the  same 
theory  as  mine.*  Mr.  Wallace  expressed  the 
wish  that  if  I  thought  well  of  his  essay  I  should 
send  it  to   Lyell  for  perusal. 

The  circumstances  under  which   I   consented 

at    the   request   of   Lyell   and   Hooker  to   allow 

of    an    abstract    from    my    MS.,    together    with 

a    letter    to    Asa    Gray,     dated    September    5, 

*  The  essay  appears  in  "Natural  Selection,"  London, 1870. 

38 


How   It   Came   to    Be    Written 

1857,  to  be  published  at  the  same  time  with 
Wallace's  essay,  arc  given  in  the  "Journal*  1" 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Linnean  Society,"  1858, 
p.  45.  I  was  at  first  very  unwilling  to  consent. 
as  I  thought  Mr.  Wallace  might  consider  my 
doing  so  unjustifiable,  for  I  did  not  thru  know- 
how  generous  and  noble  was  his  disposition. 
The  extract  from  my  MS.  and  the  letter  to 
Asa  Gray  had  neither  been  intended  for  publi- 
cation, and  were  badly  written.  Mr.  Wallace's 
essay,  on  the  other  hand,  was  admirabl; 
pressed  and  quite  clear.  Nevertheless,  our  joint 
productions  excited  very  little  attention,  and 
the  only  published  notice  of  them  which  I  can 
remember  was  by  Professor  Haughton  of  Dublin, 
whose  verdict  was  that  all  that  was  new  in  them 
was  false,  and  what  was  true  was  old.  This 
shows  how  necessary  it  is  that  any  new  idea 
should  be  explained  at  considerable  length 
in  order  to  arouse  public  attention. 

In  September,  1858,  I  set  to  work  by  the 
strong  advice  of  Lyell  and  Hooker  to  prepare 
a  volume  on  the  transmutation  of  species, 
but  was  often  interrupted  by  ill  health  and 
short  visits  to  Dr.  Lane's  delightful  hydro- 
pathic establishment  at  Moor  Park.  I  abstracted 
the  MS.  begun  on  a  much  larger  scale  in  1S56, 
and  completed  the  volume  on  the  same  reduced 
scale.  It  cost  me  thirteen  months  and  ten 
days'  hard  labor.  It  was  published  under  the 
title  of  the  "Origin  of  Species,"  in  November, 
1859.  Though  considerably  added  to  and  cor- 
39 


Masterpieces    of  Science 

rected  in  the  later  editions,  it  has  remained 
substantially  the   same   book. 

It  is  no  doubt  the  chief  work  of  my  life.  It 
was  from  the  first  highly  successful.  The  first 
small  edition  of  1,250  copies  was  sold  on  the 
day  of  publication,  and  a  second  edition  of 
3,000  copies  soon  afterwards.  Sixteen  thousand 
copies  have  now  (1876)  been  sold  in  England; 
and  considering  how  stiff  a  book  it  is,  this  is 
a  large  sale.  It  has  been  translated  into  almost 
every  European  tongue,  even  into  such  lan- 
guages as  Spanish,  Bohemian,  Polish  and  Rus- 
sian. Even  an  essay  in  Hebrew  has  appeared 
on  it,  showing  that  the  theory  is  contained 
in  the  Old  Testament  !  The  reviews  were  very 
numerous;  for  some  time  all  that  appeared  on 
the  "Origin"  and  on  my  related  books,  and 
these  amount  (excluding  newspaper  reviews) 
to  265;  but  after  a  time  I  gave  up  the  attempt 
in  despair.  Many  separate  essays  and  books 
on  the  subject  have  appeared;  and  in  Germany 
a  catalogue  or  bibliography  on  "  Darwinismus " 
has  appeared  every  year  or  two. 

The  success  of  the  "Origin"  may,  I  think, 
be  attributed  in  large  part  to  my  having  long 
before  written  two  condensed  sketches  and  to 
my  having  abstracted  a  much  larger  manu- 
script, which  was  itself  an  abstract.  By  this 
means  1  was  enabled  to  select  the  more  striking 
facts  and  conclusions.  I  had  also,  during  many 
years  followed  a  golden  rule,  namely,  that 
whenever  a  published  fact,  a  new  observation 
40 


How   It   Came  to   Be   Written 

or  thought  came  across  me,  which  was  opposed 
to  my  general  results,  to  make  a  memorandum 
of  it  without  fail  and  at  once;  for  1  had  found 
by  experience  that  such  facts  and  thoughts 
were  far  more  apt  to  escape  from  the-  memory 
than  favourable  ones.  Owing  to  this  habit 
very  few  objections  were  raised  against  my 
views  which  I  had  not  at  least  noticed  and 
attempted  to  answer. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  the  success 
of  the  "Origin"  proved  "that  the  sub- 
ject was  in  the  air,"  or  "that  men's  minds 
were  prepared  for  it."  I  do  not  think  that  this 
is  strictly  true,  for  I  occasionally  sounded  not 
a  few  naturalists,  and  never  happened  to  come 
across  a  single  one  who  seemed  to  doubt  about 
the  permanence  of  species.  Even  Lycll  and 
Hooker,  though  they  listened  with  interest  to 
me,  never  seemed  to  agree.  I  tried  once  or 
twice  to  explain  to  able  men  what  I  meant 
by  Natural  Selection,  but  signally  failed.  What 
I  believe  was  strictly  true  is  that  innumerable 
well-observed  facts  were-  stored  in  the  minds 
of  naturalists  ready  to  take  their  proper 
places  as  soon  as  any  theory  which  would 
receive  them  was  sufficiently  explained.  An- 
other clement  in  the  success  of  the  book 
was  its  moderate  size;  and  this  I  owe  t<>  tin- 
appearance  of  Mr.  Wallace's  essay;  had 
I  published  on  the  scale  on  which  I  began 
to  write  in  1856,  the  book  would  have  been 
four  or  live  times  as  large  as  the  "Origin." 
41 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

and    very    few  would    have    had     the    patience 
to  read  it. 

1  gained  much  by  my  delay  in  publishing 
from  about,  1S39,  when  the  theory  was  clearly 
conceived,  to  1859;  and  1  lost  nothing  by  it, 
for  1  cared  very  little  whether  men  attributed 
most  originality  to  me  or  "Wallace;  and  his 
essay  no  doubt  aided  in  the  reception  of  the 
theory.  L  was  forestalled  in  only  one  important 
point,  which  my  vanity  has  always  made  me 
regret,  namely,  the  explanation  by  means 
of  the  Glacial  period  of  the  presence  of  the 
same  species  of  plants  and  of  some  few  animals 
on  distant  mountain  summits  and  in  the  arctic 
regions.  This  view  pleased  me  so  much  that  1 
wrote  it  out  in  cxicnso,  and  1  believe  that  it 
was  read  by  Hooker  some  years  before  E. 
Forbes  published  in  1S46  his  celebrated  memoir 
on  the  subject.  In  the  very  few  points  in  which 
we  differed,  I  still  think  that  I  was  in  the  right.  . 
I  have  never,  of  course,  alluded  in  print  to  my 
having  independently  worked  out  this  view. 

Hardly  any  point  gave  me  so  much  satisfac- 
tion when  I  was  at  work  on  the  "Origin,"  as  the 
explanation  of  the  wide  difference  in  many 
classes  between  the  embryo  and  the  adult  ani- 
mal, and  of  the  close  resemblance  of  the  em- 
bryos within  the  same  class.  Xo  notice  of  this 
point  was  taken,  as  far  as  I  remember,  in  the 
early  reviews  of  the  "Origin,"  and  1  recollect 
expressing  my  surprise  on  this  head  in  a  letter 
to  Asa  Gray.  Within  late  years  several  re- 
42 


How   It   Came   to   Be    Written 

viewers  have  given  the  whole  credit  to  Fritz 
Muller  and  Haeekel,  who  undoubtedly  have 
worked  it  out  much  more  fully  and  in  some 
respects  more  correctly  than  I  did.  I  had 
materials  for  a  whole  chapter  on  the  subject, 
and  I  ought  to  have  made  the  discussion  longer; 
for  it  is  clear  that  I  failed  to  impress  my  readers; 
and  he  who  succeeds  in  doing  so  deserves,  in 
my  opinion,   all  the  credit. 

This  leads  me  to  remark  that  I  have  almost 
always  been  treated  honestly  by  my  reviewers, 
passing  over  those  without  scientific  knowledge 
as  not  worthy  of  notice.  My  views  have  been 
grossly  misrepresented,  bitterly  opposed  and 
ridiculed,  but  this  has  been  generally  done  as, 
I  believe,  in  good  faith.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not 
doubt  that  my  works  have  been  over  and 
over  again  greatly  overpraised.  I  rejoice  that 
I  have  avoided  controversies,  and  this  I  owe 
to  Lyell,  who  many  years  ago,  in  reference  to 
my  geological  works,  strongly  advised  me 
never  to  get  entangled  in  a  controversy,  as  it 
rarely  did  any  good  and  caused  a  miserable 
loss  of  time  and  temper. 

"Whenever  I  have  found  out  that  I  have 
blundered,  or  that  my  work  has  been  imperfect, 
and  when  I  have  been  contemptuously  criti- 
cised, and  even  when  I  have  been  overpraised, 
so  that  I  have  felt  mortified,  it  has  been  my 
greatest  comfort  to  say  hundreds  of  times  to  my- 
self that  "I  have  worked  as  hard  and  as  well 
as  I  could,  and  no  man  can  do  more  than  this." 
43 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

I  remember  when  in  Good  Success  Bay,  in 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  thinking  (and,  I  believe, 
that  I  wrote  home  to  the  effect)  that  I  could 
not  employ  my  life  better  than  in  adding  a 
little  to  Natural  Science.  This  I  have  done  to 
the  best  of  my  abilities,  and  critics  may  say 
what  they  like,  but  they  can  not  destroy  this 
conviction. 


44 


THE    DESCENT   OF    MAN 
Charles    Darwin 

[Concluding  chapter  of  "The  Descent  of  Man,"  New 
York,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.] 

A  brief  summary  will  be  sufficient  to  recall 
to  the  reader's  mind  the  more  salient  points 
in  this  work.  Many  of  the  views  which  have 
been  advanced  are  highly  speculative,  and 
some,  no  doubt,  will  prove  erroneous;  but  I 
have  in  every  case  given  the  reasons  which 
have  led  me  to  one  view  rather  than  to  another. 
It  seemed  worth  while  to  try  how  far  the  prin- 
ciple of  evolution  would  throw  light  on  some 
of  the  more  complex  problems  in  the  natural 
history  of  man.  False  facts  are  highly  injurious 
to  the  progress  of  science,  for  they  often  endure 
long;  but  false  views,  if  supported  by  some 
evidence,  do  little  harm,  for  every  one  takes  a 
salutary  pleasure  in  proving  their  falseness; 
and,  when  this  is  done,  one  path  toward  error 
is  closed  and  the  road  to  truth  is  often  at  the 
same  time  opened. 

The  main  conclusion  arrived  at  in  this  work, 
and  now  held  by  many  naturalists  who  are 
well  competent  to  form  a  sound  judgment,  is 
that  man  is  descended  from  some  less  highly 
organized  form.  The  grounds  upon  which  this 
conclusion  rests  will  never  be  shaken,  for  the 
45 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

close  similarity  between  man  and  the  lower 
animals  in  embryonic  development,  as  well 
as  in  innumerable  points  of  structure  and  con- 
stitution, both  of  high  and  of  the  most  trifling 
importance — the  rudiments  which  he  retains, 
and  the  abnormal  reversions  to  which  he  is 
occasionally  liable — are  facts  which  cannot  be 
disputed.  They  have  long  been  known,  but, 
until  recently,  they  told  us  nothing  with  respect 
to  the  origin  of  man.  Now,  when  viewed  by  the 
light  of  our  knowledge  of  the  whole  organic 
world,  their  meaning  is  unmistakable.  The 
great  principle  of  evolution  stands  up  clear  and 
firm  when  these  groups  of  facts  are  considered 
in  connection  with  others,  such  as  the  mutual 
affinities  of  the  members  of  the  same  group, 
their  geographical  distribution  in  past  and 
present  times,  and  their  geological  succession. 
It  is  incredible  that  all  these  facts  should  speak 
falsely.  He  who  is  not  content  to  look,  like  a  sav- 
age, at  the  phenomena  of  Nature  as  discon- 
nected, cannot  any  longer  believe  that  man 
is  the  work  of  a  separate  act  of  creation.  He 
will  be  forced  to  admit  that  the  close  resemb- 
lance of  the  embryo  of  man  to  that,  for  instance, 
of  a  dog — the  construction  of  his  skull,  limbs 
and  whole  frame  on  the  same  plan  with  that  of 
other  mammals — the  occasional  appearance  of 
various,  structures,  for  instance,  of  several 
distinct  muscles,  which  man  does  not  normally 
possess,  but  which  are  common  to  the  Quad- 
rumana — and  a  crowd  of  analogous  facts — all 
46 


The   Descent   of  Man 

point  in  the  plainest  manner  to  the  conclusion 
that  man  is  the  co-descendant  of  other  mam- 
mals  of  a  common  progenitor. 

We  have  seen  that  man  incessantly  pres 
individual  differences  in  all  parts  of  his  body 
and  in  his  mental  faculties.  These  differences 
or  variations  seem  to  be  induced  by  the  same 
general  causes,  and  to  obey  the  same  laws  as 
with  the  lower  anunals.  In  both  eases  similar 
laws  of  inheritance  prevail.  Man  tends  to  in- 
crease at  a  greater  rate  than  his  means  of  sub- 
sistence; conesquently  he  is  occasionally  sub- 
jected to  a  severe  struggle  for  existence,  and 
natural  selection  will  have  effected  whatever 
lies  within  its  scope.  A  succession  of  strongly 
marked  variations  of  a  similar  nature  is  by  no 
means  requisite;  slight  fluctuating  differences 
in  the  individual  suffice  in  the  work  of  natural 
selection.  We  may  feel  assured  that  the  inherited 
effects  of  the  long-continued  use  or  disuse  of 
parts  will  have  done  much  in  the  same  direction 
with  natural  selection.  Modifications  formerly 
of  importance,  though  no  longer  of  any  special 
use,  are  long-inherited.  When  one  part  is  modi- 
fied other  parts  change  through  the  principle 
of  correlation,  of  which  we  have  instances  in 
many  curious  cases  of  correlated  monstrosities. 
Something  may  be  attributed  to  the  direct  and 
definite  action  of  the  surrounding  conditions 
of  life,  such  as  abundant  food,  heat  or  moistuiv: 
and,  lastly,  many  characters  of  slight  physio- 
logical importance,  some  indeed  of  considerable 
47 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

importance,  have  been  gained  through  sexual 
selection. 

No  doubt  man,  as  well  as  every  other  animal, 
presents  structures,  which,  as  far  as  we  can  judge 
with  our  little  knowledge,  are  not  now  of  any 
service  to  him,  nor  to  have  been  so  during  any 
former  period  of  his  existence,  either  in  relation 
to  his  general  conditions  of  life,  or  of  one  sex 
to  the  other.  Such  structures  cannot  be  accounted 
for  by  any  form  of  selection,  or  by  the  inherited 
effects  of  the  use  and  disuse  of  parts.  We  know, 
however,  that  many  strange  and  strongly 
marked  peculiarities  of  structure  occasionally 
appear  in  our  domesticated  productions,  and 
if  the  unknown  causes  which  produce  them 
were  to  act  more  uniformly,  they  would  prob- 
ably become  common  to  all  the  individuals  of 
the  species.  We  may  hope  hereafter  to  under- 
stand something  about  the  causes  of  such 
occasional  modifications,  especially  through  the 
study  of  monstrosities;  hence,  the  labours  of 
experimentalists,  such  as  those  of  M.  Camille 
Dareste,  are  full  of  promise  for  the  future.  In 
general  we  can  only  say  that  the  cause  of  each 
slight  variation  and  of  each  monstrosity  lies 
much  more  in  the  constitution  of  the  organism 
than  in  the  nature  of  the  surrounding  conditions; 
though  new  and  changed  conditions  certainly 
play  an  important  part  in  exciting  organic 
changes  of  many   kinds. 

Through  the  means  just  specified,  aided  per- 
haps by  others  as  yet  undiscovered,  man  has 
48 


The   Descent  of  Man 

been  raised  to  his  present  state.  But  since  he 
attained  to  the  rank  of  manhood,  he  has  di- 
verged into  distinct  races,  or,  as  they  may  be 
more  fitly  called,  subspecies.  Some  of  these, 
such  as  the  negro  and  European,  are  so  distinct 
that,  if  specimens  had  been  brought  to  a  natur- 
alist without  any  further  information,  they 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  considered  by 
him  as  good  and  true  species.  Nevertheless, 
all  the  races  agree  in  so  many  unimportant 
details  of  structure  and  in  so  many  mental 
peculiarities,  that  these  Can  be  accounted  for 
only  by  inheritance  from  a  common  progenitor; 
and  a  progenitor  thus  characterized  would 
probably  deserve  to  rank  as  man. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  divergence 
of  each  race  from  the  other  races,  and  of  all 
from  a  common  stock,  can  be  traced  back  to 
any  one  pair  of  progenitors.  On  the  contrary, 
at  every  stage  in  the  process  of  modification, 
all  the  individuals  which  were  in  any  way  best 
fitted  for  their  conditions  of  life,  though  in  dif- 
ferent degrees,  would  have  survived  in  greater- 
numbers  than  the  less  well-fitted.  The  process 
would  have  been  like  that  followed  by  man,  when 
he  does  not  intentionally  select  particular  in- 
dividuals, but  breeds  from  all  the  superior  indi- 
viduals and  neglects  all  the  inferior  individuals. 
He  thus  slowly  but  surely  modifies  his  stock  and 
unconsciously  forms  a  new  strain.  So  with 
respect  to  modifications  acquired  independently 
of  selection,  and  due  to  variations  arising  from 
49 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

the  nature  of  the  organism  and  the  action  of  the 
surrounding  conditions,  or  from  changed  habits 
of  life,  no  single  pair  will  have  been  modified  in 
a  much  greater  degree  than  the  other  pairs  which 
inhabit  the  same  country,  for  all  will  have  been 
continually  blended  through  free  intercrossing. 
By  considering  the  embryological  structure  of 
man — the  homologies  [parallels]  which  he  pre- 
sents with  the  lower  animals — the  rudiments 
which  he  retains — and  the  reversions  to  which 
he  is  liable,  we  can  partly  recall  in  imagination 
the  former  condition  of  our  early  progenitors; 
and  can  approximately  place  them  in  their  pro- 
per place  in  the  zoological  series.  We  thus 
learn  that  man  is  descended  from  a  hairy,  tailed 
quadruped,  probably  arboreal«in  its  habits  [living 
on  or  among  trees]  and  an  inhabitant  of  the  Old 
World.  This  creature,  if  its  whole  structure  had 
been  examined  by  a  naturalist,  would  have  been 
classed  among  the  Quadrumana,  as  surely  as  the 
still  more  ancient  progenitor  of  the  Old  and  New 
World  monkeys.  The  Quadrumana  and  all  the 
higher  mammals  are  probably  derived  from  an 
ancient  marsupial  animal  [usually  provided  with 
a  pouch  for  the  reception  and  nourishment  of 
the  young,  as  in  the  case  of  the  kangaroo]  and 
this  through  a  long  line  of  diversified  forms, 
from  some  reptile-like  or  some  amphibian-like 
creature,  and  this  again  from  some  fish-like 
animal.  In  the  dim  obscurity  of  the  past  we 
can  see  that  the  early  progenitor  of  all  the  Verte- 
brata  must  have  been  an  aquatic  animal,  pro- 
50 


The    Descent   of   .Alan 

vided  with  branchiae  [gills],  with  the  two  sexes 
united  in  the  same  individual,  and  with  the  most 
important  organs  of  the  body  (such  as  the  brain 
and  heart)  imperfectly  or  not  at  all  developed. 
This  animal  seems  to  have  been  more  like  the 
larvae  of  the  existing  marine  Ascidians  than  any 
other  known  form. 

The  greatest  difficulty  which  presents  itself 
when  we  are  driven  to  the  above  conclusion  on 
the  origin  of  man  is  the  high  standard  of  intel- 
lectual power  and  of  moral  disposition  which  he 
has  attained.  But  every  one  who  admits  the 
principle  of  evolution  must  see  that  the  mental 
powers  of  the  higher  animals,  which  are  the  same 
in  kind  with  those  of  man ,  though  so  different  in 
degree,  are  capable  of  advance  nent.  Thus 
the  interval  between  the  mental  powers  of  one 
of  the  higher  apes  and  of  a  fish,  or  between  those 
of  an  ant  and  scale-insect,  is  immense;  yet  their 
development  does  not  offer  any  special  difficulty; 
for  with  our  domesticated  animals  the  mental 
faculties  are  certainly  variable,  and  the  varia- 
tions are  inherited.  No  one  doubts  that  they 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  animals  in  a 
state  of  nature.  Therefore,  the  conditions  are 
favourable  for  their  development  through  natural 
selection. 

The  same  conclusion  may  be  extended  to 
man;  the  intellect  must  have  been  all-im- 
portant to  him,  even  at  a  very  remote  period. 
as  enabling  him  to  invent  and  use  language,  to 
make  weapons,  tools,  traps,  etc.,  whereby  with 
51 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

the  aid  of  his  social  habits  he  long  ago  became 
the  most  dominant  of  all  living  creatures. 

A  great  stride  in  the  development  of  the 
intellect  will  have  followed,  as  soon  as  the  half- 
art  and  half-instinct  of  language  came  into 
use;  for  the  continued  use  of  language  will  have 
reacted  on  the  brain  and  produced  an  inherited 
effect;  and  this  again  will  have  reacted  on  the 
improvement  of  language.  As  Mr.  Chauncey 
Wright  has  well  remarked,  the  largeness  of  the 
brain  in  man  relatively  to  his  body,  compared 
with  the  lower  animals,  may  be  attributed  in 
chief  part  to  the  early  use  of  some  simple  form 
of  language — that  wonderful  engine  which 
affixes  signs  to  all  sorts  of  objects  and  qualities, 
and  excites  trains  of  thought  which  would  never 
arise  from  the  mere  impression  of  the  senses, 
or  if  they  did  arise  could  not  be  followed  out. 
The  higher  intellectual  powers  of  man,  such 
as  those  of  ratiocination,  abstraction,  self- 
consciousness,  etc.,  will  have  followed  from 
the  continued  improvement  of  other  mental 
faculties;  but  without  considerable  culture  of 
the  mind,  both  in  the  race  and  in  the  individual, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  these  high  powers  would 
be   exercised  and  thus   fully   attained. 

The  development  of  the  moral  qualities  is  a 
more  interesting  problem.  The  foundation  lies 
in  the  social  instincts,  including  under  this 
term  the  family  ties.  These  instincts  are  highly 
complex,  and  in  the  case  of  the  lower  animals 
give  special  tendencies  toward  certain  definite 
52 


The   Descent   of   Man 

actions;  but  the  more  important  elements  are 
love  and  the  distinct  emotion  of  sympathy. 
Animals  endowed  with  the  social  instincts  take 
pleasure  in  one  another's  company,  warn  one 
another  of  danger,  defend  and  aid  one  another 
in  many  ways.  These  instincts  do  not  extend 
to  all  the  individuals  of  the  species,  but  only 
to  those  of  the  same  community.  As  they 
are  highly  beneficial  to  the  species  they  have 
in  all  probability  been  acquired  through  natural 
selection. 

A  moral  being  is  one  who  is  capable  of  re- 
flecting on  his  past  actions  and  their  motives 
— of  approving  of  some  and  disapproving  of 
others;  and  the  fact  that  man  is  the  one  being 
who  certainly  deserves  this  designation  is  the 
greatest  of  all  distinctions  between  him  and  the 
lower  animals.  But  in  the  fourth  chapter  I 
have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  moral  sense 
follows,  firstly,  from  the  enduring  and  ever- 
present  nature  of  the  social  instincts;  secondly, 
from  man's  appreciation  of  the  approbation 
and  disapprobation  of  his  fellows;  and,  thirdly, 
from  the  high  activity  of  his  mental  faculties, 
with  past  impressions  extremely  vivid;  and  in 
these  latter  respects  he  differs  from  the  lower 
animals.  Owing  to  this  condition  of  mind, 
man  cannot  avoid  looking  both  backward  and 
forward  and  comparing  past  impressions. 
Hence,  after  some  temporary  desire  or  passion 
has  mastered  his  social  instincts,  he  reflects 
and  compares  the  now  weakened  impression  of 
53 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

such  past  impulses  with  the  ever-present  social 
instincts;  and  he  then  feels  that  sense  of  dis- 
satisfaction which  all  unsatisfied  instincts  leave 
behind  them,  he  therefore  resolves  to  act  differ- 
ently for  the  future — and  this  is  conscience. 
Any  instinct  permanently  stronger  or  more 
enduring  than  another  gives  rise  to  a  feeling 
which  we  express  by  saying  that  it  ought  to  be 
obeyed.  A  pointer  dog  if  able  to  reflect  on  his 
past  conduct  would  say  to  himself,  I  ought  (as 
indeed  we  say  of  him)  to  have  pointed  at  that 
hare  and  not  have  yielded  to  the  passing  temp- 
tation of  hunting  it. 

Social  animals  are  impelled  partly  by  a  wish 
to  aid  the  members  of  their  community  in  a 
general  manner,  but  more  commonly  to  per- 
form certain  definite  actions.  Man  is  impelled 
by  the  same  general  wish  to  aid  his  fellows; 
but  has  few  or  no  special  instincts.  He  differs 
also  from  the  lower  animals  in  the  power  of 
expressing  his  desires  by  words,  which  thus 
become  a  .guide  to  the.  aid  required  and  be- 
stowed. The  motive  to  give  aid  is  likewise 
much  modified  in  man;  it  no  longer  consists 
solely  of  a  blind  instinctive  impulse,  but  is 
much  influenced  by  the  praise  or  blame  of  his 
fellows.  The  appreciation  and  bestowal  of 
praise  and  blame  both  rest  on  sympathy;  and 
this  emotion,  as  we  have  seen,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  elements  of  the  social  instincts. 
Sympathy,  though  gained  as  an  instinct,  is 
also  much  strengthened  by  exercise  or  habit. 
54 


The   Descent   of   Man 

As  all  men  desire  their  own  happiness,  praise 
or  blame  is  bestowed  on  actions  or  m< 
according  as  they  lead  to  this  end;  and  as 
happiness  is  an  essential  part  of  the  general 
good  the  greatest-happiness  principle  indirectly 
serves  as  a  nearly  safe  standard  of  right  and 
wrong.  As  the  reasoning  powers  advance  and 
experience  is  gained  the  remoter  effects  of  cer- 
tain lines  of  conduct  on  the  character  of  the 
individual  and  on  the  general  good  are  per- 
ceived; and  then  the  self- regarding  virtues  come 
within  the  scope  of  public  opinion  and  receive 
praise  and  their  opposites  blame.  But  with  the 
less  civilized  nations  reason  often  errs,  and 
many  bad  customs  and  base  superstitions  come 
within  the  same  scope  and  are  then  esteemed  as 
high  virtues  and  their  breach  as  heavy  crimes. 

The  moral  faculties  are  generally  and  justly 
esteemed  as  of  higher  value  than  the  intellectual 
powers.  But  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  the 
activity  of  the  mind  in  vividly  recalling  past 
impressions  is  one  of  the  fundamental  though 
secondary  bases  of  conscience.  This  affords 
the  strongest  argument  for  educating  and  stimu- 
lating in  all  possible  ways  the  intellectual 
faculties  of  every  human  being.  No  doubt,  a 
man  with  a  torpid  mind,  if  his  social  affections 
and  sympathies  are  well  developed,  will  be  led 
to  good  actions  and  may  have  a  fairly  sensitive 
conscience.  But  whatever  renders  the  imagi- 
nation more  vivid  and  strengthens  the  habit 
of  recalling  and  comparing  past  impressions 
55 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

will  make  the  conscience  more  sensitive,  and 
may  even  somewhat  compensate  for  weak 
social  affections  and  sympathies. 

The  moral  nature  of  man  has  reached  its 
present  standard  partly  through  the  advance- 
ment of  his  reasoning  powers  and  consequently 
of  a  just  public  opinion,  but  especially  from 
his  sympathies  having  been  rendered  more 
tender  and  widely  diffused  through  the  ef- 
fects of  habit,  example,  instruction  and  re- 
flection. It  is  not  improbable  that  after  long 
practice  virtuous  tendencies  may  be  inherited. 
With  the  more  civilized  races  the  conviction 
of  the  existence  of  an  all-seeing  Deity  has  had 
a  potent  influence  on  the  advance  of  morality. 
Ultimately  man  does  not  accept  the  praise  or 
blame  of  his  fellows  as  his  sole  guide,  though 
few  escape  this  influence,  but  his  habitual  con- 
victions, controlled  by  reason,  afford  him  the 
safest  rule.  His  conscience  then  becomes  the 
supreme  judge  and  monitor.  Nevertheless,  the 
first  foundation  or  origin  of  the  moral  sense  lies 
in  the  social  instincts,  including  sympathy; 
and  these  instincts,  no  doubt,  were  primarily 
gained,  as  in  the  case  of  the  lower  animals, 
through   natural    selection. 

The  belief  in  God  has  often  been  advanced 
as  not  only  the  greatest  but  the  most  complete 
of  all  the  distinctions  between  man  and  the 
lower  animals.  It  is,  however,  impossible,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  maintain  that  this  belief  is 
innate  or  instinctive  in  man.  On  the  other  hand, 
56 


The   Descent   of  Man 

a  belief  in  all-pervading  spiritual  agencies  < 
to  be  universal,  and  apparently  follows  from 
a  considerable  advance  in  man's  reason  and 
from  a  still  greater  advance  in  his  faculties  of 
imagination,  curiosity  and  wonder.  I  am 
aware  that  the  assumed  instinctive  belief  in 
God  has  been  used  by  many  persons  as  an  argu- 
ment for  His  existence.  But  this  is  a  rash  judg- 
ment, as  we  should  thus  be  compelled  to  believe 
in  the  existence  of  many  cruel  and  malignant 
spirits,  only  a  little  more  powerful  than  man; 
for  the  belief  in  them  is  far  more  general  than 
in  a  beneficent  Deity.  The  idea  of  a  universal 
and  beneficent  Creator  does  not  seem  to  arise 
in  the  mind  of  man  until  he  has  been  elevated 
by  long-continued   culture. 

He  who  believes  in  the  advancement  of  man 
from  some  low  organized  form  will  naturally 
ask,  How  does  this  bear  on  the  belief  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  ?  The  barbarous  races 
of  man,  as  Sir  J.  Lubbock  has  shown,  possess 
no  clear  belief  of  this  kind;  but  arguments 
derived  from  the  primeval  beliefs  of  savuyvs 
are,  as  we  have  just  seen,  of  little  or  no  avail. 
Few  persons  feel  any  anxiety  from  the  im- 
possibility of  determining  at  what  precise  period 
in  the  development  of  the  individual,  from  the 
first  trace  of  a  minute  germinal  vesicle,  man 
becomes  an  immortal  being;  and  there  is  no 
greater  cause  for  anxiety  because  the  period 
in  the  gradually  ascending  organic  scale  cannot 
possibly  be  determined. 
57 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

I  am  aware  that  the  conclusions  arrived  at 
in  this  work  will  be  denounced  by  some  as 
highly  irreligious;  but  he  who  denounces  them 
is  bound  to  show  why  it  is  more  irreligious 
to  explain  the  origin  of  man  as  a  distinct  species 
by  descent  from  some  lower  form,  through  the 
laws  of  variation  and  natural  selection,  than 
to  explain  the  birth  of  the  individual  through 
the  laws  of  ordinary  reproduction.  The  birth 
both  of  the  species  and  of  the  individual  are 
equally  parts  of  that  grand  sequence  of  events, 
which  our  minds  refuse  to  accept  as  the  result 
of  blind  chance.  The  understanding  revolts  at 
such  a  conclusion,  whether  or  not  we  are  able 
to  believe  that  every  slight  variation  of  structure, 
the  union  of  each  pair  in  marriage,  the  dissemi- 
nation of  each  seed,  and  other  such  events 
have  all  been  ordained  for  some  special  purpose. 

Sexual  selection  has  been  treated  at  great 
length  in  this  work;  for,  as  I  have  attempted 
to  show,  it  has  played  an  important  part  in 
the  history  of  the  organic  world.  I  am  aware 
that  much  remains  doubtful,  but  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  give  a  fair  view  of  the  whole 
case.  In  the  lower  divisions  of  the  animal 
kingdom  sexual  selection  seems  to  have  done 
nothing;  such  animals  are  often  affixed  for  life 
to  the  same  spot,  or  have  the  sexes  combined 
in  the  same  individual,  or,  what  is  still  more 
important,  their  perceptive  and  intellectual 
faculties  are  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  allow 
of  the  feelings  of  love  and  jealousy,  or  of  the 
58 


The   Descent   of   Man 

exertion  of  choice.  When,  however,  we  come 
to  the  Arthropoda  and  Vertebrata,  even  I 
lowest  classes  in  these  two  great  sub-kingdoms, 
sexual  selection  has  effected  much;  and  it  de- 
serves notice  that  we  here  find  the  intellectual 
faculties  developed,  but  in  two  very  distinct 
lines,  to  the  highest  standard,  namely  in  the 
Hymenoptera  [ants,  bees,  etc.],  among  the 
Arthropoda  [many  insects,  spiders,  etc.],  and 
in  the  Mammalia,  including  man,  among  the 
Vertebrata. 

In  the  most  distinct  classes  of  the  animal 
kingdom — in  mammals,  birds,  fishes,  insects 
and  even  crustaceans — the  differences  between 
the  sexes  follow  almost  exactly  the  same  rules. 
The  males  are  almost  always  the  wooers;  and 
they  alone  are  armed  with  special  weapons  for 
fighting  with  their  rivals.  They  are  generally 
stronger  and  larger  than  the  females,  and  are 
endowed  with  the  requisite  qualities  of  courage 
and  pugnacity.  They  are  provided,  either 
exclusively  or  in  a  much  higher  degree  than  the 
females,  with  organs  for  vocal  or  instrv mental 
music,  and  with  odoriferous  glands.  They  are 
ornamented  with  infinitely  diversified  append- 
ages and  with  the  most  brilliant  or  conspicuous 
colors,  often  arranged  in  elegant  pat! 
while  the  females  arc  unadorned.  When  the 
sexes  differ  in  more  important  structures  it  is 
the  male  which  is  provided  with  special  smse- 
organs  for  discovering  the  female,  with  : 
motive  organs  for  reaching  her,  and  often  with 
59 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

prehensile  organs  for  holding  her.  These  various 
structures  for  charming  or  securing  the  female 
are  often  developed  in  the  male  during  only 
part  of  the  year;  namely,  the  breeding  season. 
They  have  in  many  cases  been  transferred  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  to  the  females;  and  in 
the  latter  case  they  often  appear  in  her  as  mere 
rudiments.  They  are  lost  or  never  gained  by 
the  males  after  emasculation.  Generally  they 
are  not  developed  in  the  male  during  early 
youth,  but  appear  a  short  time  before  the  age 
for  reproduction.  Hence,  in  most  cases  the 
young  of  both  sexes  resemble  each  other;  and 
the  female  somewhat  resembles  her  young  off- 
spring throughout  life.  In  almost  every  great 
class  a  few  anomalous  cases  occur,  where  there 
has  been  an  almost  complete  transposition  of 
the  characters  proper  to  the  two  sexes;  the  fe- 
males assuming  characters  which  properly  be- 
long to  the  males.  This  surprising  uniformity 
in  the  laws  regulating  the  differences  between 
the  sexes  in  so  many  and  such  widely  separated 
classes  is  intelligible  if  we  admit  the  action 
throughout  all  the  higher  divisions  of  the  animal 
kingdom  of  one  common  cause;  namely,  sexual 
selection. 

Sexual  selection  depends  on  the  success  of 
certain  individuals  over  others  of  the  same  sex, 
in  relation  to  the  propagation  of  the  species; 
while  natural  selection  depends  on  the  success 
of  both  sexes,  at  all  ages,  in  relation  to  the 
general  conditions  of  life.  The  sexual  struggle 
60 


The   Descent   of   Man 

is  of  two  kinds;  in  the  one  it  is  between  the 
individuals  of  the  same  sex,  generally  the  male-;. 
in  order  to  drive  away  or  kill  their  rivals,  the 
females  remaining  passive;  while  in  the  other, 
the  struggle  is  likewise  between  the  individuals 
of  the  same  sex,  in  order  to  excite  or  charm 
those  of  the  opposite  sex,  generally  the  females, 
which  no  longer  remain  passive,  but  select  the 
more  agreeable  partners.  This  latter  kind  of 
selection  is  closely  analogous  to  that  which 
man  unintentionally,  yet  effectually,  brings  to 
bear  on  his  domesticated  productions,  when 
he  preserves  during  a  long  period  the  most 
pleasing  or  useful  individuals,  without  any  wish 
to  modify  the  breed. 

The  laws  of  inheritance  determine  whether 
characters  gained  through  sexual  selection  by 
either  sex  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  same  sex, 
or  to  both;  as  well  as  the  age  at  which  they 
shall  be  developed.  It  appears  that  variations 
arising  late  in  life  are  commonly  transmitted 
to  one  and  the  same  sex.  Variability  is  the 
necessary  basis  for  the  action  of  selection  and 
is  wholly  independent  of  it.  It  follows  from 
this  that  variations  of  the  same  general  nature 
have  often  been  taken  advantage  of  and  accumu- 
lated through  sexual  selection  in  relation  t<>  the 
propagation  of  the  species,  as  well  as  through 
natural  selection  in  relation  to  the  general  pur- 
poses of  life.  Hence  secondary  sexual  ehaiv 
when  equally  transmitted  to  both  srxes.  can 
be  distinguished  from  ordinary  specific  characters 
61 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

only  by  the  light  of  analogy.  The  modifica- 
tions acquired  through  sexual  selection  are  often 
so  strongly  pronounced  that  the  two  sexes 
have  frequently  been  ranked  as  distinct  species, 
or  even  as  distinct  genera.  Such  strongly  marked 
differences  must  be  in  some  manner  highly 
important;  and  we  know  that  they  have  been 
acquired  in  some  instances  at  the  cost  not  only 
of  inconvenience,  but  of  exposure  to  actual 
danger. 

The  belief  in  the  power  of  sexual  selection  rests 
chiefly  on  the  following  considerations:  The 
characters  which  we  have  the  best  reasons  for 
supposing  to  have  been  thus  acquired  are  con- 
fined to  one  sex;  and  this  alone  renders  it  prob- 
able that  in  most  cases  they  are  connected 
with  the  act  of  reproduction.  These  characters 
in  innumerable  instances  are  fully  developed 
only  at  maturity;  and  often  during  only  a  part 
of  the  year,  which  is  always  the  breeding  season. 
The  males  (passing  over  a  few  exceptional 
cases)  are  the  more  active  in  courtship;  they 
are  the  best  armed,  and  are  rendered  the  most 
attractive  in  various  ways.  It  is  to  be  especially 
observed  that  the  males  display  their  attractions 
with  elaborate  care  in  the  presence  of  the  fe- 
males; and  that  they  rarely  or  never  display 
them  excepting  during  the  season  of  love.  It 
is  incredible  that  all  this  should  be  purposeless. 
Lastly,  we  have  distinct  evidence  with  some 
quadrupeds  and  birds  that  the  individuals  of 
one  sex  are  capable  of  feeling  a  strong  antipathy 
62 


The   Descent   of   Man 

or  preference  for  certain  individuals  of  the 
other  sex. 

Bearing  in  mind  these  facts  and  not  for- 
getting the  marked  results  of  man's  unconscious 
selection,  it  seems  to  me  almost  certain  that 
if  the  individuals  of  one  sex  were  during  a  long 
series  of  generations  to  prefer  pairing  with  cer- 
tain individuals  of  the  other  sex,  characterized 
in  some  peculiar  manner,  the  offspring  would 
slowly  but  surely  become  modified  in  this  same 
manner.  I  have  not  attempted  to  conceal  that, 
excepting  when  the  males  are  more  numerous 
than  the  females,  or  when  polygamy  prevails, 
it  is  doubtful  how  the  more  attractive  males 
succeed  in  leaving  a  larger  number  of  offspring 
to  inherit  their  superiority  in  ornaments  or 
other  charms  than  the  less  attractive  males; 
but  I  have  shown  that  this  would  probably 
follow  from  the  females — especially  the  more 
vigorous  ones,  which  would  be  the  first  to 
breed — preferring  not  only  the  more  attractive 
but  at  the  same  time  the  more  vigorous  and 
victorious    males. 

Although  we  have  some  positive  evidence 
that  birds  appreciate  bright  and  beautiful 
objects,  as  with  the  bower-birds  of  Australia, 
and  although  they  certainly  appreciate  the 
power  of  song,  yet  I  fully  admit  that  it  is  aston- 
ishing that  the  females  of  many  birds  and  some 
mammals  should  be  endowed  with  sufficient 
taste  to  appreciate  ornaments,  which  we  have 
reason  to  attribute  to  sexual  selection;  and  this 
63 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

is  even  more  astonishing  in  the  case  of  reptiles, 
fish  and  insects.  But  we  really  know  little 
about  the  minds  of  the  lower  animals.  It  can- 
not be  supposed,  for  instance,  that  male  birds 
of  paradise  or  peacocks  should  take  such  pains 
in  erecting,  spreading  and  vibrating  their 
beautiful  plumes  before  the  males  for  no  pur- 
pose. We  should  remember  the  fact  given  on 
excellent  authority  in  a  former  chapter  that 
several  peahens,  when  debarred  from  an  ad- 
mired male,  remained  widows  during  a  whole 
season  rather  than  pair  with  another  bird. 

Nevertheless,  I  know  of  no  fact  in  natural 
history  more  wonderful  than  that  the  female 
Argus  pheasant  should  appreciate  the  exquisite 
shading  of  the  ball-and-socket  ornaments  and 
the  elegant  patterns  on  the  wing  feathers  of 
the  male.  He  who  thinks  that  the  male  was 
created  as  he  now  exists  must  admit  that  the 
great  plumes,  which  prevent  the  wings  from 
being  used  for  flight  and  which,  as  well  as  the 
primary  feathers,  are  displayed  in  a  manner 
quite  peculiar  to  this  one  species  during  the  act 
of  courtship,  and  at  no  other  time,  were  given 
to  him  as  an  ornament.  If  so,  he  must  likewise 
admit  that  the  female  was  created  and  endowed 
with  the  capacity  of  appreciating  such  orna- 
ments. I  differ  only  in  the  conviction  that  the 
male  Argus  pheasant  acquired  his  beauty 
gradually,  through  the  females  having  preferred 
during  many  generations  the  more  highly 
ornamented  males;  the  esthetic  capacity  of  the 
64 


The   Descent   of   Man 

females  having  been  advanced  through  exercise 
or  habit  just  as  our  own  taste  is  gradually 
improved.  In  the  male,  through  the  fortunate 
chance  of  a  few  feathers  not  having  been  modi- 
fied, we  can  distinctly  see  how  simple  spots  with 
a  little  fulvous  [tawny]  shading  on  one  side  may 
have  been  developed  by  small  steps  into  the 
wonderful  ball-and-socket  ornaments;  and  it  is 
probable  that  they  were  actually  thus  developed. 

Every  one  who  admits  the  principle  of  evolu- 
tion, and  yet  feels  great  difficulty  in  admitting 
that  female  mammals,  birds,  reptiles  and  fish, 
could  have  acquired  the  high  taste  implied  by 
the  beauty  of  the  males,  and  which  generally 
coincides  with  our  own  standard,  should  reflect 
that  the  nerve-cells  of  the  brain  in  the  highest  as 
well  as  in  the  lowest  members  of  the  Vertebrate 
series,  are  derived  from  those  of  the  common  pro- 
genitor of  the  whole  group.  It  thus  becomes 
intelligible  that  the  brain  and  mental  faculties 
should  be  capable  under  similar  conditions  of 
nearly  the  same  course  of  development,  and  con- 
sequently of  performing  nearly  the  same  func- 
tions. 

The  reader  who  has  taken  the  trouble  to  go 
through  the  several  chapters  devoted  to  sexual 
selection  will  be  able  to  judge  how  far  the  con- 
clusions at  which  I  have  arrived  are  supported 
by  sufficient  evidence.  If  he  accepts  these  con- 
clusions he  may,  I  think,  safely  extend  them  to 
mankind ;  but  it  would  be  superfluous  here  to  re- 
peat what  I  have  so  lately  said  on  the  manner  in 
65 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

which  sexual  selection  apparently  has  acted,  on 
man,  both  on  the  male  and  female  side,  causing 
the  two  sexes  of  man  to  differ  in  body  and  mind, 
and  the  several  races  to  differ  from  each  other  in 
various  characters,  as  well  as  from  their  ancient 
and  lowly  organized  progenitors. 

He  who  admits  the  principle  of  sexual  selection 
will  be  led  to  the  remarkable  conclusion  that  the 
cerebral  system  not  only  regulates  most  of  the 
existing  functions  of  the  body,  but  has  indirectly 
influenced  the  progressive  development  of  various 
bodily  structures  and  of  certain  mental  qualities. 
Courage,  pugnacity,  perseverance,  strength  and 
size  of  body,  weapons  of  all  kinds,  musical  organs, 
both  vocal  and  instrumental,  bright  colours, 
stripes  and  marks,  and  ornamental  appendages, 
have  all  been  indirectly  gained-  by  the  one  sex 
or  the  other,  through  the  influence  of  love  and 
jealousy,  through  the  appreciation  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  sound,  colour  or  form,  and  through  the 
exertion  of  a  choice ;  and  those  powers  of  the  mind 
manifestly  depend  on  the  development  of  the 
cerebral  system. 

Man  scans  with  scrupulous  care  the  character 
and  pedigree  of  his  horses,  cattle  and  dogs  before 
he  matches  them ;  but  when  he  comes  to  his  own 
marriage  he  rarely,  or  never  takes  any  such  care. 
He  is  impelled  by  nearly  the  same  motives  as 
the  lower  animals  when  left  to  their  own  free 
choice,  though  he  is  in  so  far  superior  to  them 
that  he  highly  values  mental  charms  and  virtues. 
On  the  other  hand  he  is  strongly  attracted  by 
66 


The   Descent    of   Man 

mere  wealth  or  rank.  Yet  he  might  by  selection 
do  something  not  only  for  the  bodily  constitute  m 
and  frame  of  his  offspring,  but  for  their  intel- 
lectual and  moral  qualities.  Both  sixes  oughl 
to  refrain  from  marriage  if  they  are  in  any  marked 
degree  inferior  in  body  or  mind;  but  such  l. 
are  Utopian  and  will  never  be  even  partially 
realized  until  the  laws  of  inheritance  are  thor- 
oughly known.  All  do  good  service  who  aid 
toward  this  end.  When  the  principles  of  br 
ing  and  inheritance  are  better  understood,  we 
shall  not  hear  ignorant  members  of  our  legislature 
rejecting  with  scorn  a  plan  for  ascertaining 
whether  or  not  consanguineous  marriages  are 
injurious  to  man. 

The  advancement  of  the  welfare  of  mankind 
is  a  most  intricate  problem;  all  ought  to  refrain 
from  marriage  who  cannot  avoid  abject  poverty 
for  their  children;  for  poverty  is  not  only  a  great 
evil,  but  tends  to  its  own  increase  by  leading 
to  recklessness  in  marriage.  On  the  other  hand, 
as  Mr.  Galton  has  remarked,  if  the  prudent  avoid 
marriage,  while  the  reckless  marry,  the  inferior 
members  tend  to  supplant  the  better  members 
of  society.  Man,  like  every  other  animal,  has 
no  doubt  advanced  to  his  present  high  condition 
through  a  struggle  for  existence  consequent  on 
his  rapid  multiplication;  and  if  he  is  to  advance 
still  higher,  he  must  remain  subject  to  a  seven 
struggle.  Otherwise  he  would  sink  into  indol- 
ence, and  the  more  gifted  men  would  not  be  more 
successful  in  the  battle  of  life  than  the  less 
67 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

gifted.  Hence  our  natural  rate  of  increase, 
though  leading  to  many  and  obvious  evils,  must 
not  be  greatly  diminished  by  any  means.  There 
should  be  open  competition  for  all  men ;  and  the 
most  able  should  not  be  prevented  by  laws  or 
customs  from  succeeding  best  and  rearing  the 
largest  number  of  offspring.  Important  as  the 
struggle  for  existence  has  been  and  even  still  is, 
yet  as  far  as  the  highest  part  of  man's  nature  is 
concerned  there  are  other  agencies  more  impor- 
tant. For  the  moral  qualities  are  advanced, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  much  more  through 
the  effects  of  habit,  the  reasoning  powers,  in- 
struction, religion,  etc.,  than  through  natural 
selection ;  though  to  this  latter  agency  the  social 
instincts,  which  afforded  the  basis  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  moral  sense,  may  be  safely  attributed. 
The  main  conclusion  arrived  at  in  this  work, 
namely,  that  man  is  descended  from  some  lowly 
organized  form,  will,  I  regret  to  think,  be  highly 
distasteful  to  many.  But  there  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  we  are  descended  from  barbarians. 
The  astonishment  I  felt  on  first  seeing  a  party  of 
Fuegians  on  a  wild  and  broken  shore  will  never 
be  forgotten  by  me,  for  the  reflection  at  once 
rushed  into  my  mind — such  were  our  ancestors. 
These  men  were  absolutely  naked  and  bedaubed 
with  paint,  their  long  hair  was  tangled,  their 
mouths  frothed  with  excitement,  and  their  ex- 
pression was  wild,  startled  and  distrustful. 
They  possessed  hardly  any  arts,  and  like  wild 
animals  lived  on  what  they  could  catch ;  they  had 
68 


The   Descent   of  Man 

no  government,  and  were  merciless  to  every  one 

not  of  their  own  small  tribe.  He  who  has 
a  savage  in  his  native  land  will  no1  feel  much 
shame,  if  forced  to  acknowledge  that  the  blood  of 
some  more  humble  creature  flows  in  his  veins.  For 
my  own  part  I  would  as  soon  be  descended  fr<  >m 
that  heroic  little  monkey  who  braved  his  dreaded 
enemy  in  order  to  save  the  life  of  his  keeper;  or 
from  that  old  baboon,  who,  descending  from  the 
mountains,  carried  away  in  triumph  his  young 
comrade  from  a  crowd  of  astonished  dogs — as 
from  a  savage  who  delights  to  torture  his  ene- 
mies, offers  up  bloody  sacrifices,  practises  infan- 
ticide without  remorse,  treats  his  wives  like 
slaves,  knows  no  decency,  and  is  haunted  bv  the 
grossest  superstitions. 

Man  may  be  excused  for  feeling  some  pride  at 
having  risen,  though  not  through  his  own  ex- 
ertions, to  the  very  summit  of  the  organic  scale; 
and  the  fact  of  his  having  thus  risen,  instead  of 
having  been  aboriginally  placed  there,  may  give 
him  hope  for  a  still  higher  destiny  in  the  distant 
future.  But  we  are  not  here  concerned  with 
hopes  or  fears,  only  with  the  truth  as  far  as  our 
reason  permits  us  to  discover  it.  I  have  given 
the  evidence  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and  we 
must  acknowledge,  as  it  seems  to  me,  that  man, 
with  all  his  noble  qualities,  with  sympathy  which 
feels  for  the  most  debased,  with  benevolence 
which  extends  not  only  to  other  men  but  t<>  the 
humblest  living  creature,  with  his  godlike  intel- 
lect which  has  penetrated  into  the  movements 
69 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

and  constitution  of  the  solar  system — with  all 
these  exalted  powers — Man  still  bears  in  his 
bodily  frame  the  indelible  stamp  of  his  lowly 
origin. 


70 


MIMICRY  AND  OTHER  PROTECTIVE   RE- 
SEMBLANCES AMONG  ANIMALS 

Alfred  Russel  Wallace 

[Mr.  Wallace,  one  of  the  greatest  naturalists  of  the  age, 
discovered   the   law   of   natural   selection   indepenck-i 
Darwin,  and  about  the  same  time.     Among  his  works  are 
"The  Malay  Archipelago,"  "Island  Life,"  and  "Darwinism." 
From  "Natural  Selection,"   which  was  publish* 
millan  &  Co.,   1871,  the  following  extracts  are  taken.     The 
theme  has  received  important  development  at  the  hands  of 
Professor  E.  B.  Poulton,  in  his  "The  Colours  of  Animals, " 
International  Scientific  Series,  1S90:   and  in  F.  E.  B*.  ] 
"Animal  Colouration  "  ;  London,  Swan  Sonnenschcin  ;  X.  V., 
Macmillan,  1S92  ] 

There  is  no  more  convincing  proof  of  the  truth 
of  a  comprehensive  theory,  than  its  power  of 
absorbing  and  finding  a  place  for  new  facts,  and 
its  capability  of  interpreting  phenomena  which 
had  been  previously  looked  upon  as  unaccount- 
able anomalies.  It  is  thus  that  the  law  of  uni- 
versal gravitation  and  the  undulatory  theory 
of  light  have  become  established  and  universally 
accepted  by  men  of  science.  Fact  after  fact  has 
been  brought  forward  as  being  apparently  in- 
consistent with  them,  and  one  after  another  these 
very  facts  have  been  shown  to  be  the  conse- 
quences of  the  laws  they  were  at  first  supposed 
to  disprove.  A  false  theory  will  never  stand 
this  test.  Advancing  knowledge  brings  to  light 
whole  groups  of  facts  which  it  cannot  deal  with, 
and  its  advocates  steadily  decrease  in  numbers, 
71 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

notwithstanding  the  ability  and  scientific  skill 
with  which  it  has  been  supported.  The  course  of 
a  true  theory  is  very  different,  as  may  be  well 
seen  by  the  progress  of  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
natural  selection.  In  less  than  eight  years  "The 
Origin  of  Species  "  has  produced  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  a  majority  of  the  most  eminent  living 
men  of  science.  New  facts,  new  problems,  new 
difficulties  as  they  arise  are  accepted,  solved  or 
removed  by  this  theory;  and  its  principles  are 
illustrated  by  the  progress  and  conclusions  of 
every  well  established  branch  of  human  knowl- 
edge. It  is  the  object  of  the  present  essay  to 
show  how  it  has  recently  been  applied  to  connect 
together  and  explain  a  variety  of  curious  facts 
which  had  long  been  considered  as  inexplicable 
anomalies. 

Perhaps  no  principle  has  ever  been  announced 
so  fertile  in  results"  as  that  which  Mr.  Darwin 
so  earnestly  impresses  upon  us,  and  which  is 
indeed  a  necessary  deduction  from  the  theory 
of  natural  selection,  namely — that  none  of  the 
definite  facts  of  organic  nature,  no  special  organ, 
no  characteristic  form  or  marking,  no  peculiar- 
ities of  instinct  or  of  habit,  no  relations  between 
species  or  between  groups  of  species — can  exist, 
but  which  must  now  be  or  once  have  been  useful 
to  the  individuals  or  races  which  possess  them. 
This  great  principle  gives  us  a  clue  which  we  can 
follow  out  in  the  study  of  many  recondite  phe- 
nomena, and  leads  us  to  seek  a  meaning  and  a 
purpose  of  some  definite  character  in  minutia) 
72 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

which  we  should  be  otherwise  almost  sir 
over  as  insignificant  or  unimportant. 

The  adaptation  of  the  external  colouring  of 
animals  to  their  conditions  of  life  has  long  been 
recognized,  and  has  been  imputed  either  to  an 
originally  created  specific  peculiarity,  or  to  the 
direct  action  of  olimate,  soil,  or  food.  Where 
the  former  explanation  has  been  accepted,  it  has 
completely  checked  inquiry,  since  we  could  n 
get  any  further  than  the  fact  of  the  adaptation. 
There  was  nothing  more  to  be  known  about  the 
matter.  The  second  explanation  was  soon  found 
to  be  quite  inadequate  to  deal  with  ail  the  v 
phases  of  the  phenomena,  and  to  be  contradicted 
by  many  well-known  facts.  For  example,  wild 
rabbits  are  always  of  gray  or  brown  tints  well 
suited  for  concealment  among  grass  and  fern. 
But  when  these  rabbits  arc  domesticated,  with- 
out any  change  of  climate  or  food,  they  vary 
into  white  or  black,  and  these  varieties  may  be 
multiplied  to  any  extent,  forming  white  or  black 
races.  Exactly  the  same  thing  has  occurred 
with  pigeons;  and  in  the  case  of  rats  and  mice, 
the  white  variety  has  not  been  shown  to  be  at  all 
dependent  on  alteration  of  climate,  food  or  other 
external  conditions.  In  many  cases  the  wings 
of  an  insect  not  only  assume  the  exact  tint  of  the 
bark  or  leaf  it  is  accustomed  to  rest  on,  but  the 
form  and  veining  of  the  leaf  i  »r  the  exad  rugosity 
of  the  bark  is  imitated;  and  these  detailed  modi- 
fications cannot  be  reasonably  imputed  to  climate 
or  food,  since  in  many  cases  the  species  docs  not 
73 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

feed  on  the  substance  it  resembles,  and  when  it 
does,  no  reasonable  connection  can  be  shown 
to  exist  between  the  supposed  cause  and  the 
effect  produced.  It  was  reserved  for  the 
theory  of  natural  selection  to  solve  all  these 
problems,  and  many  others  which  were  not 
at  first  supposed  to  be  directly  connected  with 
them.  To  make  these  latter  intelligible,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  whole  series  of 
phenomena  which  may  be  classed  under  the  head 
of  useful  or  protective  resemblances. 

Concealment,  more  or  less  complete,  is  useful 
to  many  animals,  and  absolutely  essential  to 
some.  .  Those  which  have  numerous  enemies 
from  which  they  cannot  escape  by  rapidity  of 
motion,  find  safety  in  concealment.  Those 
which  prey  upon  others  must  also  be  so  con- 
stituted as  not  to  alarm  them  by  their  presence 
or  their  approach,  or  they  would  soon  die  of 
hunger.  Now,  it  is  remarkable  in  how  many 
cases  nature  gives  this  boon  to  the  animal,  by 
colouring  it  with  such  tints  as  may  best  serve  to 
enable  it  to  escape  from  its  enemies  or  to  entrap 
its  prey.  Desert  animals  as  a  rule  are  desert- 
coloured.  The  lion  is  a  typical  example  of  this, 
and  must  be  almost  invisible  when  crouched  upon 
the  sand  or  among  desert  rocks  and  stones. 
Antelopes  are  all  more  or  less  sandy-coloured. 
The  camel  is  pre-eminently  so.  The  Egyptian 
cat  and  the  Pampas  cat  are.  sandy  or  earth- 
coloured.  The  Australian  kangaroos  are  of  the 
same  tints,  and  the  original  colour  of  the  wild 
74 


Mimicry   Among   Animals 

horse  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  sandy  or  clay- 
colour. 

The   desert   birds   are   still   more   remarkably 
protected  by  their  assimilative  hues.      The 
chats,  the  larks,  the  quails,  the  goatsuckers  and 
the-  grouse,  which  abound  in  the  North  Af 
and  Asiatic  deserts,  are  all  tinted  and  m 
so  as  to  resemble  with  wonderful  accuracy  the 
average  colour  and  aspect  of  the  soil  in  thi 
trict  they  inhabit.     The  Rev.  H.  Tristram,  in  his 
account  of  the  ornithology  of  North  Africa  in  the 
first    volume    of    the    "Ibis,"    says:      "In    the 
desert,  where  neither  trees,  brushwood,  nor  even 
undulation   of  the    surface    afford   the    slightest 
protection  to  its  foes,  a  modification  of  ( 
which  shall  be  assimilated  to  that  of  the  sum  (tend- 
ing   country    is    absolutely    necessary.      ! 
without  exception  the  upper  plumage  of  every 
whether  lark,  chat,  sylvain,  or  sand-grouse,  and 
also  the  fur  of  all  the  smaller  mammals,  and  the 
skin  of  all  the  snakes  and  lizards,  is  of  one  unifi  >rm 
isabelline  or  sand  colour.  "     After  the  testimony 
of  so  able  an  observer  it  is  unnecessary  to  adduce 
further   examples   of  the   protective   colours   <  »f 
desert  animals. 

Almost  equally  striking  are  the  cas< 
animals  possessing  the  white  colour  thai 
ceals  them  upon  snowfields  and  icebergs.     The 
polar  bear  is  the  only  bear  that, is  whi 
lives    constantly    among    snow    and    ice.     The 
arctic  fox,  the  ermine  and  the  alpine  hare  change 
to    white    in    winter    only,    because    in    summer 
75 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

white  would  be  more  conspicuous  than  any  other 
colour,  and  therefore  a  danger  rather  than  a  pro- 
tection; but  the  American  polar  hare,  inhabiting 
regions  of  almost  perpetual  snow,  is  white  all 
the  year  round.  Other  animals  inhabiting  the 
same  northern  regions  do  not,  however,  change 
colour.  The  sable  is  a  good  example,  for 
throughout  the  severity  of  a  Siberian  winter  it 
retains  its  rich  brown  fur.  But  its  habits  are 
such  that  it  does  not  need  the  protection  of 
colour,  for  it  is  said  to  be  able  to  subsist  on  fruits 
and  berries  in  winter,  and  to  be  so  active  upon 
the  trees  as  to  catch  small  birds  among  the 
branches.  So  also  the  woodchuck  of  Canada  has 
a  dark-brown  fur;  but  then  it  lives  in  burrows 
and  frequents  river  banks,  catching  fish  and 
small  animals  that  live  in  or  near  the  water. 

Among  birds,  the  ptarmigan  is  a  fine  example 
of  protective  colouring.  Its  summer  plumage 
so  exactly  harmonizes  with  the  lichen-coloured 
stones  among  which  it  delights  to  sit,  that  a  per- 
son may  walk  through  a  flock  of  them  without 
seeing  a  single  bird;  while  in  winter  its  white 
plumage  is  an  almost  equal  protection.  The 
snow-bunting,  the  jerfalcon,  and  the  snowy  owl 
are  also  white-coloured  birds  inhabiting  the 
arctic  regions,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  but 
that  their  colouring  is  to  some  extent  protective. 
Nocturnal  animals  supply  us  with  equally 
good  illustrations.  Mice,  rats,  bats,  and  moles 
possess  the  least  conspicuous  of  hues,  and  must 
be  quite  invisible  at  times  when  any  light  colour 
76 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

would  be  instantly  seen.  Owls  and  goatsuckers 
are  of  those  dark  mottled  tints  that  will  assimilate 
with  bark  and  lichen,  and  thus  protecl  them 
during  the  day,  and  at  the  same  time  be  incon- 
spicuous in  the  dusk. 

It  is  only  in  the  tropics,  among  forests  which 
never  1<  >se  their  foliage,  that  we  find  wh<  >le  gr<  >ups 
of  birds  whose  chief  colour  is  green.  The  parr.  >ts 
are  the  most  striking  example,  but  we  have 
also  a  group  of  green  pigeons  in  the  East;  and 
the  barbets,  leaf-thrushes,  bee-eaters,  white- 
eyes,  turacos,  and  several  smaller  groups,  have 
so  much  green  in  their  plumage  as  to  tend  greatly 
to  conceal  them  among  the  foliage. 

The  conformity  of  tint  which  has  been  so  far 
shown  to  exist  between  animals  and  their  habita- 
tions is  of  somewhat  general  character;  we  will 
now  consider  the  cases  of  more  special  adapta- 
tion. If  the  lion  is  enabled  by  his  sandy  colour 
readily  to  conceal  himself  by  merely  crouching 
down  in  the  desert,  how,  it  may  be  asked,  do 
the  elegant  markings  of  the  tiger,  the  jaguar, 
and  the  other  large  cats  agree  with  this  theory  ? 
We  reply  that  these  are  generally  cases  of  more 
or  less  special  adaptation.  The  tiger  is  a  jungle 
animal,  and  hides  himself  among  tufts  of  grass 
or  of  bamboos,  and  m  these  positions  the  vertical 
stripes  with  which  his  body  is  adorned  nu: 
assimilate  with  the  vertical  stems  of  the  bamboo, 
as  to  assist  greatly  in  concealing  him  from  his 
approaching  prey.  How  remarkable  it  is  that 
besides  the  lion  and  tiger,  almost  all  the  other 
77 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

large  cats  are  arboreal  in  their  habits,  and  almost 
all  have  ocellated  or  spotted  skins,  which  must 
certainly  tend  to  blend  them  with  the  back- 
ground of  foliage;  while  the  one  exception,  the 
puma,  has  an  ashy-brown  uniform  fur,  and  has 
the  habit  of  clinging  so  closely  to  a  limb  of  a 
tree  while  waiting  for  his  prey  to  pass  beneath 
as  to  be  hardly  distinguishable  from  the  bark. 

Among  birds,  the  ptarmigan,  already  men- 
tioned, must  be  considered  a  remarkable  case  of 
special  adaptation.  Another  is  a  South  Ameri- 
can goatsucker  (Caprimulgus  rupestris)  which 
rests  in  the  bright  sunshine  on  little  bare  rocky 
islets  in  the  upper  Rio  Negro,  where  its  unusually 
light  colours  so  closely  resemble  those  of  the  rock 
and  sand,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  detected  until 
trodden  upon. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll,  in  his  "Reign  of  Law," 
has  pointed  out  the  admirable  adaptation  of 
the  colours  of  the  woodcock  to  its  protection. 
The  various  browns  and  yellows  and  pale  ash- 
colour  that  occur  on  fallen  leaves  are  all  repro- 
duced in  its  plumage,  so  that  when  according  to 
its  habit  it  rests  upon  the  ground  under  trees, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  detect  it.  In  snipes 
the  colours  are  modified  so  as  to  be  equally  in 
harmony  with  the  prevalent  forms  and  colours 
of  marshy  vegetation.  Mr.  J.  M.  Lester,  in  a 
papei  read  before  the  Rugby  School  Natural 
History  Society  observes: — "The  wood-dove, 
when  perched  amongst  the  branches  of  its  favour- 
ite fir,  is  scarcely  discernible;  whereas,  were  it 
78 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

among  some  lighter  foliage  the  blue  and  purple 
tints  in  its  plumage  would  far  sooner  betray  it. 
The  robin  redbreast,  too,  although  it  might  be 
thought  that  the  red  on  its  breast  made  it  much 
easier  to  be  seen,  is  in  reality  not  at  all  endangered 
by  it,  since  it  generally  contrives  to  get  among 
some  russet  or  yellow  fading  leaves,  where  the 
red  matches  very  well  with  the  autumn  tints, 
and  the  brown  of  the  rest  of  the  body  with  the 
bare  branches.  "* 

Reptiles  offer  us  many  similar  examples.  Tin- 
most  arboreal  lizards,  the  iguanas,  are  as  green 
as  the  leaves  they  feed  upon,  and  the  slender 
whip-snakes  are  rendered  almost  invisible  as 
they  glide  among  the  foliage  by  a  similar  coloura- 
tion. How  difficult  it  is  sometimes  to  catch 
sight  of  the  little  green  tree-frogs  sitting  on  the 
leaves  of  a  small  plant  enclosed  in  a  glass  case 
in  the  Zoological  Gardens;  yet  how  much  better 
concealed  they  must  be  among  the  fresh  green 
damp  foliage  of  a  marshy  forest.  There  is  a 
North  American  frog  found  on  lichen-covered 
rocks  and  walls,  which  is  so  coloured  as  exactly 
to  resemble  them,  and  as  long  as  it  remains  quiet 
would  certainly  escape  detection.  Some  of  the 
geckos  which  cling  motionless  on  the  trunks  of 
trees  in  the  tropics,  are  of  such  curiously  marbled 
colours  as  to  match  exactly  with  the  bark  they 
rest  upon. 

In  every  part  of  the  tropics  there  are  tree 
snakes  that  twist  among  boughs  and  shrubs,  or 
lie  coiled  up  in  the"  dense'  masses  of  foliage. 
79 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

These  are  of  many  distinct  groups,  and  comprise 
both  venomous  and  harmless  genera;  but  almost 
all  of  them  are  of  a  beautiful  green  colour,  some- 
times more  or  less  adorned  with  white  or  dusky 
bands  and  spots.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
this  colour  is  doubly  useful  to  them,  since  it  will 
tend  to  conceal  them  from  their  enemies,  and 
will  lead  their  prey  to  approach  them  uncon- 
scious of  danger.  Dr.  Gunthner  informs  me  that 
there  is  only  one  genus  of  true  arboreal  snakes 
(Dipsas)  whose  colours  are  rarely  green,  but 
are  of  various  shades  of  black,  brown,  and  olive, 
and  these  are  all  nocturnal  reptiles,  and  there 
can  be  little  doubt  conceal  themselves  during  the 
day  in  holes,  so  that  the  green  protective  tint 
would  be  useless  to  them,  and  they  accordingly 
retain  the  more  usual  reptilian  hues. 

Fishes  present  similar  instances.  Many  flat 
fish,  as,  for  example,  the  flounder  and  the  skate, 
are  exactly  the  colour  of  the  gravel  or  sand  on 
which  they  habitually  rest.  Among  the  marine 
flower  gardens  of  an  Eastern  coral  reef  the  fishes 
present  every  variety  of  gorgeous  colour,  while 
the  river  fish  even  of  the  tropics  rarely  if  ever 
have  gay  or  conspicuous  markings.  A  very 
curious  case  of  this  kind  of  adaptation  occurs 
in  the  sea-horse  (Hippocampus)'  of  Australia, 
some  of  which  bear  long  foliaceous  appendages 
resembling  seaweed,  and  are  of  a  brilliant  red 
colour;  and  they  ar*e  known  to  live  among  sea- 
weed of  the  same  hue,  so  that  when  at  rest  they 
must  be  quite  invisible.  There  are  now  in  the 
80 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

aquarium  of  the  Zoological  Society  some  slender 
green  pipe-fish  which  fasten  themselves  to  any 
object  at  the  bottom  by  their  prehensile  tails, 
and  float  about  with  the  current,  looking  ex. 
like  some  cylindrical  algae. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  insect  world  that  this 
principle  of  the  adaptation  of  animals  to  their 
environment  is  most  fully  an'd  strikingly  d< 
oped.  In  order  to  understand  how  general  this 
is,  it  is  necessary  to  enter  somewhat  into  details, 
as  we  shall  thereby  be  better  able  to  appreciate 
the  significance  of  the  still  more  remarkable 
phenomena  we  shall  presently  have  to  discuss. 
It  seems  to  be  in  proportion  to  their  sluggish 
motions  or  the  absence  of  other  means  of  defence, 
that  insects  possess  the  protective  colouring. 
In  the  tropics  there  are  thousands  of  species  of 
insects  which  rest  during  the  day  clinging  to  the 
bark  of  dead  or  fallen  trees;  and  the  greater  por- 
tion of  these  are  delicately  m<  >ttled  with  gray  and 
brown  tints,  which  though  symmetrically  dis- 
posed and  infinitely  varied,  yet  blend  so  com- 
pletely with  the  usual  colours  of  the  bark  that 
at  two  or  three  feet  distance  they  are  quite  un- 
distinguishablc.  In  some  cases  a  species  is 
known  to  frequent  only  one  spe<  ies  <  >£  I  ree.  This 
is  the  case  with  the  common  South  American 
long-horned  beetle  (Onychocerus  scorpio)  which, 
Mr.  Bates  informed  me,  is  found  only  on  a  rough- 
barked  tree,  called  Tapiriba,  on  the  Amazon. 
It  is  very  abundant,  but  so  exactly  docs  it  re- 
semble the  bark  m  colour  and  rugosity,  and  so 
81 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

closely  does  it  cling  to  the  branches,  that  until 
it  moves  it  is  absolutely  invisible  !  An  allied 
species  (O.  concentricus)  is  found  only  at  Para, 
on  a  distinct  species  of  tree,  the  bark  of  which 
it  resembles  with  equal  accuracy.  Both  these 
insects  are  abundant,  and  we  may  fairly  conclude 
that  the  protection  they  derive  from  this  strange 
concealment  is  at  least  one  of  the  causes  that 
enable  the  race  to  flourish. 

Many  of  the  species  of  Cicindela,  or  tiger 
beetle,  will  illustrate  this  mode  of  protection. 
Our  common  Cicindela  campestris  frequents 
grassy  banks  and  is  of  a  beautiful  green  colour, 
while  C.  maritima,  which  is  found  only  on  sandy 
sea-shores,  is  of  a  pale  bronzy  yellow,  so  as  to 
be  almost  invisible.  A  great  number  of  the 
species  found  by  myself  in  the  Malay  islands 
are  similarly  protected.  The  beautiful  Cicindela 
gloriosa,  of  a  very  deep  velvety  green  colour, 
was  only  taken  upon  wet  mossy  stones  in  the 
bed  of  a  mountain  stream,  where  it  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  detected.  A  large  brown 
species  (C.  heros)  was  found  chiefly  on  dead 
leaves  in  forest  paths;  and  one  which  was  never 
seen  except  on  the  wet  mud  of  salt  marshes 
was  of  a  glossy  olive  so  exactly  the  colour  of 
the  mud  as  only  to  be  distinguished  when  the 
sun  shone,  by  its  shadow  !  Where  the  sandy 
beach  was  coralline  and  nearly  white,  I  found  a 
very  pale  Cicindela;  wherever  it  was  volcanic 
and  black,  a  dark  species  of  the  same  genus 
was  sure  to  be  met  with. 
82 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

There  arc  in  the  East  small  beetles  of  the 
family  Buprestidae  which  generally  rest  on  the 

midrib  of  a  leaf,  and  the  naturalist  often  hesi- 
tates before  picking  them  off,  so  closely  do  they 
resemble  pieces  of  bird's  dung.  Kirby  and 
Spence  mention  the  small  beetle  Onthophilus 
sulcatus  as  being  like  the  seed  of  an  umbellifer- 
ous plant;  and  another  small  weevil,  which  is 
much  persecuted  by  predatory  beetles  of  the 
genus  Harpalus,  is  of  the  exact  colour  of  loamy 
soil,  and  was  found  to  be  particularly  abundant 
in  loam  pits.  Mr.  Bates  mentions  a  small  beetle 
(Chlamys  pilula)  which  was  undistinguishable 
by  the  eye  from  the  dung  of  caterpillars,  while 
some  of  the  Cassidas,  from  their  hemispherical 
forms  and  pearly  gold  colour,  resemble  glitter- 
ing dew-drops  upon  the  leaves. 

A  number  of  our  small  brown  and  speckled 
weevils  at  the  approach  of  any  object  roll  off 
the  leaf  they  are  sitting  on,  at  the  same  time- 
drawing  in  their  legs  and  antennae,  which  lit 
so  perfectly  into  cavities  for  their  reception 
that  the  insect  becomes  a  mere  oval  brownish 
lump,  which  it  is  hopeless  to  look  for  among 
the  similarly  coloured  little  stones  and  earth 
pellets  among  which  it  lies  motionless. 

The  distribution  of  colour  in  butterflies  and 
moths  respectively  is  very  instructive  from  this 
point  of  view.  The  former  have  all  their  bril- 
liant colouring  on  the  upper  surface  of  all  four 
wings,  while  the  under  surface  is  almost  always 
soberly  coloured,  and  often  very  dark  and  <•!,- 
83 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

seure.  The  moths  on  the  contrary  have  gen- 
erally their  chief  colour  on  the  hind  wings 
only,  the  upper  wings  being  of  dull,  sombre, 
and  often  imitative  tints,  and  these  generally 
conceal  the  hind  wings  when  the  insects  are 
in  repose.  This  arrangement  of  the  colours  is 
therefore  eminently  protective,  because  the 
butterfly  always  rests  with  his  wings  raised 
so  as  to  conceal  the  dangerous  brilliancy  of  his 
upper  surface.  It  is  probable  that  if  we  watched 
their  habits  sufficiently  we  should  find  the  under 
surface  of  the  wings  of  butterflies  very  fre- 
quently imitative  and  protective.  Mr.  T.  W. 
Wood  has  pointed  out  that  the  little  orange-tip 
butterfly  often  rests  in  the  evening  on  the  green 
and  white  flower  heads  of  an  umbelliferous 
plant,  and  that  when  observed  in  this  position 
the  beautiful  green  and  white  mottling  of  the 
under  surface  completely  assimilates  with  the 
flower  heads  and  renders  the  creature  very 
difficult  to  be  seen.  It  is  probable  that  the  rich 
dark  colouring  of  the  under  side  of  our  peacock, 
toxtoiseshell,  and  red-admiral  butterflies  answers 
a  similar  purpose. 

Two  curious  South  American  butterflies  that 
always  settle  on  the  trunks  of  trees  (Gynecia 
dirce  and  Callizona  acesta)  have  the  under 
surface  curiously  striped  and  mottled,  and 
when  viewed  abliquely  must  closely  assimilate 
with  the  appearance  of  the  furrowed  bark  of 
many  kinds  of  trees.  But  the  most  wonderful 
and  undoubted  case  of  protective  resemblance 
84 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

in  a  butterfly  which  I  have  ever  seen,  is  that  of 
the  common  Indian  Kallima  inachis,  and  iis 
Malayan  ally,  Kallima  paralekta.  The  upper 
surface  of  these  insects  is  very  striking  and 
showy,  as  they  are  of  a  large  size,  and  are  ad<  irned 
with  a  broad  band  of  rich  orange  on  a  deep 
bluish  ground.  The  under  side  is  very  variable 
in  colour,  so  that  out  of  fifty  specimens  no  two 
can  be  found  exactly  alike,  but  every  oi 
them  will  be  of  some  shade  of  ash  or  brown  or 
ochre,  such  as  are  found  among  dead,  dry  or 
decaying  leaves.  The  apex  of  the  upper  wings 
is  produced  into  an  acute  point,  a  very  common 
form  in  the  leaves  of  tropical  shrubs  and  trees, 
and  the  lower  wings  are  also  produced  into  a 
short,  narrow  tail.  Between  these  two  points 
runs  a  dark  curved  line  exactly  representing 
the  midrib  of  a  leaf,  and  from  this  radiate  on 
each  side  a  few  oblique  lines,  which  serve  to 
indicate  the  lateral  veins  of  a  leaf.  These  marks 
are  more  clearly  seen  on  the  outer  portion  of 
the  base  of  the  wings,  and  on  the  inner  side 
towards  the  middle  and  apex,  and  it  is  very 
curious  to  observe  how  the  usual  marginal  and 
transverse  stria?  of  the  group  are  here  modified 
and  strengthened  so  as  to  become  adapted 
for  an  imitation  of  the  venation  of  a  leaf.  We 
come  now  to  a  still  more  extraordinary  part  of 
the  imitation,  for  we  find  representations  of  leaves 
in  every  stage  of  decay,  variously  blotched 
and  mildewed  and  pierced  with  powdery  black 
dots  gathered  into  patches  and  spots,  so  closely 
85 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

resembling  the  various  kinds  of  minute  fungi 
that  grow  on  dead  leaves  that  is  it  impossible 
to  avoid  thinking  at  first  sight  that  the  butter- 
flies themselves  have  been  attacked  by  real 
fungi. 

But  this  resemblance,  close  as  it  is,  would  be 
little  use  if  the  habits  of  the  insect  did  not 
accord  with  it.  If  the  butterfly  sat  upon  leaves 
or  upon  flowers,  or  opened  its  wings  so  as  to 
expose  the  upper  surface,  or  exposed  and  moved 
its  head  and  antennae  as  many  other  butter- 
flies do,  its  disguise  would  be  of  little  avail. 
We  might  be  sure,  however,  from  the  analogy 
of  many  other  cases,  that  the  habits  of  the 
insect  are  such  as  still  further  to  aid  its  de- 
ceptive garb;  but  we  are  not  obliged  to  make 
any  such  supposition,  since  I  myself  had  the 
good  fortune  to  observe  scores  of  Kallima  para- 
lekta,  in  Sumatra,  and  to  capture  many  of 
them,  and  can  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the 
following  details:  These  butterflies  frequent 
dry  forests  and  fly  very  swiftly.  They  were 
never  seen  to  settle  on  a  flower  or  a  green  leaf, 
but  were  many  times  lost  sight  of  in  a  bush  or 
tree  of  dead  leaves.  On  such  occasions  they 
were  generally  searched  for  in  vain,  for  while 
gazing  intently  at  the  very  spot  where  one 
had  disappeared,  it  would  often  suddenly  dart 
out  and  again  vanish  twenty  or  fifty  yards 
further  on.  On  one  or  two  occasions  the  insect 
was  detected  reposing,  and  it  could  then  be  seen 
how  completely  it  assimilates  itself  to  the  sur^ 
86 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

rounding  leaves.  It  sits  on  a  nearly  upright 
twig,  the  wings  fitting  closely  back  to  back, 
concealing  the  antennae  and  head,  which  are 
drawn  up  between  their  bases.  The  little  tails 
of  the  hind  wings  touch  the  branch  and  form 
a  perfect  stalk  to  the  leaf,  which  is  sup] 
in  its  place  by  the  claws  of  the  middle  pair  of 
feet,  which  arc  slender  and  inconspicuous. 
The  irregular  outline  of  the  wings  gives  exactly 
the  perspective  effect  of  a  shrivelled  leaf.  We 
thus  have  size,  colour,  form,  markings,  and 
habits,  all  combining  together  to  produce  a 
disguise  which  may  be  said  to  be  absolutely 
perfect;  and  the  protection  which  it  affords  is 
sufficiently  indicated  by  the  abundance  of  the 
individuals  that  possess  it.     .     .     . 

We  will  now  endeavour  to  show  how  these 
wonderful  resemblances  have  most  probably 
been  brought  about.  Returning  to  the  higher 
animals,  let  us  consider  the  remarkable  fact 
of  the  rarity  of  white  colouring  in  the  mammalia 
or  birds  of  the  temperate  or  tropical  zones  in 
a  state  of  nature.  There  is  not  a  single  white 
land-bird  or  quadruped  in  Europe,  except  the 
few  arctic  or  alpine  species,  to  which  white  is  a 
protective  colour.  Yet  in  many  of  these  crea- 
tures there  seems  to  be  no  inherent  tend 
to  avoid  white,  for  directly  they  are  domesti- 
cated white-  varieties  arise,  and  appear  to  thrive 
as  well  as  others.  We  have  white  mice  and 
rats,  white  cats,  horses,  dogs,  and  cattle,  white 
poultry,  pigeons,  turkeys,  and  ducks,  and 
S7 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

white  rabbits.  Some  of  these  animals  have 
been  domesticated  for  a  long  period,  others 
only  for  a  few  centuries;  but  in  almost  every 
case  in  which  an  animal  has  been  thoroughly 
domesticated,  parti-coloured  and  white  varieties 
are  produced  and  become  permanent. 

It  is  also  well  known  that  animals  in  a  state 
of  nature  produce  white  varieties  occasionally. 
Blackbirds,  starlings,  and  crows  are  occasionally 
seen  white,  as  well  as  elephants,  deer,  tigers, 
hares,  moles,  and  many  other  animals;  but  in 
no  case  is  a  permanent  white  race  produced. 
Now  there  are  no  statistics  to  show  that  the 
normal-coloured  parents  produce  white  off- 
spring oftener  under  domestication  than  in  a 
state  of  nature,  and  we  have  no  right  to  make 
such  an  assumption  if  the  facts  can  be  accounted 
for  without  it.  But  if  the  colours  of  animals 
do  really,  in  the  various  instances  already 
adduced,  serve  for  their  concealment  and  pre- 
servation, then  white  or  any  other  conspicu- 
ous colour  must  be  hurtful,  and  must  in  most 
cases  shorten  an  animal's  life.  A  white  rabbit 
would  be  more  surely  the  prey  of  hawk  or 
buzzard,  and  the  white  mole,  or  field  mouse, 
could  not  long  escape  from  the  vigilant  owl. 
So,  also,  any  deviation  from  those  tints  best 
adapted  to  conceal  a  carnivorous  animal  would 
render  the  pursuit  of  its  prey  much  more  diffi- 
cult, would  place  it  at  a  disadvantage  among 
its  fellows  and  in  a  time  of  scarcity  would 
probably  cause  it  to  starve  to  death.     On  the 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

other  hand,  if  an  animal  spreads  from  a  tem- 
perate into  an  aretic  district,  the  conditions 
are  changed.  During  a  large  portion  of  the 
year,  and  just  when  the  struggle  for  exist' nee 
is  most  severe,  white  is  the  prevailing  tint  of 
nature,  and  dark  colours  will  be  the  most  con- 
spicuous. The  white  varieties  will  now  have 
an  advantage;  they  will  escape  from  their  ene- 
mies or  will  secure  food,  while  their  brown  com- 
panions will  be  devoured  or  will  starve;  and 
"as  like  produces  like"  is  the  established  rule 
in  nature,  the  white  race  will  become  permanently 
established,  and  dark  varieties,  when  they 
occasionally  appear,  will  soon  die  out  from  their 
want  of  adaptation  to  their  environment.  In 
each  case  the  fittest  will  survive,  and  a  race 
will  be  eventually  produced  adapted  to  the 
conditions    in    which   it    lives. 

AVe  have  here  an  illustration  of  the  simple 
and  effectual  means  by  which  animals  arc 
brought  into  harmony  with  the  rest  of  nature. 
That  slight  amount  of  variability  in  every 
species,  which  we  often  look  upon  as  something 
accidental  or  abnormal,  or  so  insignificant  as 
to  be  hardly  worthy  of  notice,  is  yet  the  foun- 
dation of  all  those  wonderful  and  harmonious 
resemblances  which  play  such  an  important 
part  in  the  economy  of  nature.  Variation  is 
generally  very  small  in  amount,  but  it  is  all 
that  is  required,  because  the  change  in  the 
external  conditions  to  which  an  animal  is  sub- 
ject is  generally  very  slow  and  intermittent. 
89 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

When  these  changes  have  taken  place  too 
rapidly,  the  result  has  often  been  the  extinction 
of  species;  but  the  general  rule  is,  that  climatal 
and  geological  changes  go  on  slowly,  and  the 
slight  but  continual  variations  in  the  colour, 
form  and  structure  of  all  animals,  has  furnished 
individuals  adapted  to  these  changes,  and  who 
have  become  the  progenitors  of  modified  races. 
Rapid  multiplication,  incessant  slight  variation, 
and  survival  of  the  fittest — these  are  the  laws 
which  ever  keep  the  organic  world  in  harmony 
with  the  inorganic  and  with  itself.  These  are 
the  laws  which  we  believe  have  produced  all 
the  cases  of  protective  resemblance  already 
adduced,  as  well  as  those  still  more  curious 
examples  we  have  yet  to  bring  before  our 
readers. 

It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
more  wonderful  examples,  in  which  there  is 
not  only  a  general  but  a  special  resemblance 
as  in  the  walking  leaf,  the  mossy  phasma,  and 
the  leaf-winged  butterfly — represent  those  few 
instances  in  which  the  process  of  modification 
has  been  going  on  during  an  immense  series  of 
generations.  They  all  occur  in  the  tropics, 
where  the  conditions  of  existence  are  the  most 
favourable,  and  where  climatic  changes  have 
for  long  periods  been  hardly  perceptible.  In 
most  of  them  favourable  variations  both  of 
colour,  form,  structure,  and  instinct  or  habit, 
must  have  occurred  to  produce  the  perfect 
adaptation  we  now  behold.  All  these  are  known 
90 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

to  vary,  and  favourable  variations  when  not 
accompanied  by  others  that  are  unfavourable, 
would  certainly  survive  At  one  lime  a  little 
step  might  be  made  in  this  direction,  at  another 
time  in  that — a  change  of  conditions  might  some- 
times render  useless  that  which  it  had  taken 
ages  to  produce — great  and  sudden  physical 
modifications  might  often  produce  the  ex- 
tinction of  a  race  just  as  it  was  approaching 
perfection,  and  a  hundred  checks  of  which  we 
can  know  nothing  may  have  retarded  the  pro- 
gress towards  perfect  adaptation;  so  that  we 
can  hardly  wonder  at  there  being  so  few  cases 
in  which  a  completely  successful  result  has  been 
attained  as  shown  by  the  abundance  and  wide 
diffusion   of  the   creatures   so   protected. 

[Here  are  given  many  detailed  examples  of 
insects  which  gainfully  mimic  one   another.] 

We  will  now  adduce  a  few  cases  in  which 
beetles  imitate  other  insects,  and  insects  of 
other  orders  imitate  beetles. 

Charis  melipona,  a  South  American  Longi- 
corn  of  the  family  Necydalidae,  has  been  so 
named  from  its  resemblance  to  a  small  bee  of 
the  genus  Melipona.  It  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable cases  of  mimicry,  since  the  beetle 
has  the  thorax  and  body  densely  hairy  like 
the  bee,  and  the  legs  are  tufted  in  a  manner 
most  unusual  in  the  order  Colcoptera.  Another 
Longicorn,  Odontoeera  odyneroides,  has  the 
abdomen  banded  with  yellow,  and  constricted 
at  the  base,  and  is  altogether  so  exactly  like 
91 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

a  small  common  wasp  of  the  genus  Odynerus, 
that  Mr.  Bates  informs  us  he  was  afraid  to  take 
it  out  of  his  net  with  his  fingers  for  fear  of 
being  stung.  Had  Mr.  Bates's  taste  for  insects 
been  less  omnivorous  than  it  was,  the  beetle's 
disguise  might  have  saved  it  from  his  pin,  as 
it  had  no  doubt  often  done  from  the  beak  of 
hungry  birds.  A  larger  insect,  Sphecomorpha 
chalybea,  is  exactly  like  one  of  the  large  metallic 
blue  wasps,  and  like  them  has  the  abdomen 
connected  with  the  thorax  by  a  pedicle,  render- 
ing the  deception  most  complete  and  striking. 
Many  Eastern  species  of  Longicorns  of  the 
genus  Oberea,  when  on  the  wing  exactly  re- 
semble Tenthredinidse,  and  many  of  the  small 
species  of  Hesthesis  run  about  on  timber,  and 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  ants.  There  is 
one  genus  of  South  American  Longicorns  that 
appears  to  mimic  the  shielded  bugs  of  the  genus 
Scutellera.  The  Gymnocerous  capucinus  is  one 
of  these,  and  is  very  like  Pachyotris  fabricii, 
one  of  the  Scutelleridas.  The  beautiful  Gymno- 
cerous dulcissimus  is  also  very  like  the  same 
group  of  insects,  though  there  is  no  known 
species  that  exactly  corresponds  to  it;  but  this 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  as  the  tropical  Hemip- 
tera  have  been  comparatively  so  little  cared 
for   by   collectors. 

The   most   remarkable   case    of   an   insect   of 

another  order  mimicking  a  beetle  is  that  of  the 

Condylodera  tricondyloides,  one  of  the   cricket 

family   from   the    Philippine    Islands,    which   is 

92 


Mimicry  Among   Animals 

so  exactly  like  a  Tricondyla  (one  of  the  tig  r 
beetles),  that  such  an  experienced  entomologist 
as  Professor  Westwood  placed  it  among  I 
in  his  cabinet,  and  retained  it  there  a  long  time 
before  he  discovered  his  mistake  !  Both  insects 
run  along  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  whereas 
Tricondylas  are  very  plentiful,  the  insect  that 
mimics  it  is,  as  in  all  other  cases,  very  rare. 
Mr.  Bates  also  informs  us  that  he  found  at 
Santarem  on  the  Amazon,  a  species  of  locust 
which  mimicked  one  of  the  tiger  beetles  of  the 
genus  Odontocheila,  and  was  found  on  the 
same  trees  which  they  frequented. 

There  are  a  considerable  number  of  Diptera, 
or  two-winged  flies,  that  closely  resemble  wasps 
and  bees,  and  no  doubt  derive  much  benefit 
from  the  wholesome  dread  which  those  insects 
excite.  The  Midas  dives,  and  other  species  of 
large  Brazilian  flies,  have  dark  wings  and 
metallic  blue  elongate  bodies,  resembling  the 
large  stinging  Sphegidae  of  the  same  country; 
and  a  very  large  fly  of  the  genus  Asilus  has 
black-banded  wings  and  the  abdomen  tipped 
with  rich  orange,  so  as  exactly  to  resemble 
the  fine  bee  Euglossa  dimidiata,  and  both  are 
found  in  the  same  parts  of  South  America.  We 
have  also  in  our  own  country  species  of  Bom- 
bylius  which  are  almost  exactly  like  bees.  In 
these  cases  the  end  gained  by  the  mimicry  is  no 
doubt  freedom  from  attack,  but  it  has  sometimes 
an  altogether  different  purpose.  There  are  a 
number  of  parasitic  flies  whose  larvae  feed  upon 
93 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

the  larvae  of  bees,  such  as  the  British  genus 
Volucella  and  many  of  the  tropical  Bombylii, 
and  most  of  these  are  exactly  like  the  particular 
species  of  bee  they  prey  upon,  so  that  they  can 
enter  their  nests  unsuspected  to  deposit  their 
eggs.  There  are  also  bees  that  mimic  bees. 
The  cuckoo  bees  of  the  genus  Nomada  are  para- 
sitic on  the  Andrenidae,  and  they  resemble 
either  wasps  or  species  of  Andrena;  and  the 
parasitic  humble-bees  of  the  genus  Apathus 
almost  exactly  resemble  the  species  of  humble- 
bees  in  whose  nests  they  are  reared.  Mr.  Bates 
informs  us  that  he  found  numbers  of  these 
"cuckoo"  bees  and  flies  on  the  Amazon,  which 
all  wore  the  livery  of  working  bees  peculiar  to 
the  same  country. 

There  is  a  genus  of  small  spiders  in  the  tropics 
which  feed  on  ants,  and  they  are  exactly  like 
ants  themselves,  which  no  doubt  gives  them 
more  opportunity  of  seizing  their  prey;  and 
Mr.  Bates  found  on  the  Amazon  a  species  of 
Mantis  which  exactly  resembled  the  white  ants 
which  it  fed  upon,  as  well  as  several  species  of 
crickets  (Saphura),  which  resembled  in  a  won- 
derful manner  different  sand-wasps  of  large  size, 
which  are  constantly  on  the  search  for  crickets 
with  which  to  provision  their  nests. 

Perhaps  the  most  wonderful  case  of  all  is  the 
large  caterpillar  mentioned  by  Mr.  Bates, 
which  startled  him  by  its  close  resemblance  to 
a  small  snake.  The  first  three  segments  behind 
the  head  were  dilatable  at  the  will  of  the  insect, 
94 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

and  had  on  each  side  a  large  black  pupillated 
spot,  which  resembled  the  eye  of  the  reptile. 
Moreover,  it  resembled  a  poisonous  viper,  not  a 
harmless  species  of  snake,  as  was  proved  by 
the  imitation  of  keeled  scales  on  the  crow;: 
produced  by  the  recumbent  feet,  as  the  cater- 
pillar threw  itself  backward  ! 

The  attitudes  of  many  of  the  tropical  spiders 
are  most  extraordinary  and  deceptive,  but  little 
attention  has  been  paid  to  them.  They  often 
mimic  other  insects,  and  some,  Mr.  Bates  assures 
us,  are  exactly  like  flower  buds,  and  take  their 
station  in  the  axils  of  leaves,  where  they  remain 
motionless  waiting  for  their  prey. 

I  have  now  completed  a  brief,  and  necessarily 
very  imperfect,  survey  of  the  various  ways  in 
which  the  external  form  and  colouring  of  ani- 
mals is  adapted  to  be  useful  to  them,  either 
by  concealing  them  from  their  enemies  or  from 
the  creatures  they  prey  upon.  It  has,  I  hope, 
been  shown  that  the  subject  is  one  of  much 
interest,  both  as  regard  a  true  comprehension 
of  the  place  each  animal  fills  in  the  economy 
of  nature,  and  the  means  by  which  it  is  enabled 
to  maintain  that  place;  and  also  as  teaching  us 
how  important  a  part  is  played  by  the  minutest 
details  in  the  structure  of  animals,  and  how 
complicated  and  delicate  is  the  equilibrium  of 
the  organic  world. 

My  exposition  of  the  subject  having  been 
necessarily  somewhat  lengthy  and  full  of  details, 
it  will  be  as  well  to  recapitulate  its  main  points. 
95 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

There  is  a  general  harmony  in  nature  between 
the  colours  of  an  animal  and  those  of  its  habita- 
tion. Arctic  animals  are  white,  desert  animals 
are  sand-coloured;  dwellers  among  leaves  and 
grass  are  green;  nocturnal  animals  are  dusky. 
These  colours  are  not  universal,  but  are  very 
general,  and  are  seldom  reversed.  Going  on  a 
little  further,  we  rind  birds,  reptiles  and  in- 
sects, so  tinted  and  mottled  as  exactly  to  match 
the  rock,  or  bark,  or  leaf,  or  flower  they  are 
accustomed  to  rest  upon — and  thereby  effectually 
concealed.  Another  step  in  advance,  and  we 
have  insects  which  are  formed  as  well  as  coloured 
so  as  exactly  to  resemble  particular  leaves,  or 
sticks,  or  mossy  twigs,  or  flowers;  and  in  these 
cases  very  peculiar  habits  and  instincts  come 
into  play  to  aid  in  the  deception  and  render 
the  concealment  more  complete.  We  now  enter 
upon  a  new  phase  of  the  phenomena,  and  come 
to  creatures  whose  colours  neither  conceal 
them  nor  make  them  like  vegetable  or  mineral 
substances;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  con- 
spicuous enough,  but  they  completely  resemble 
some  other  creature  of  a  quite  different  group, 
while  they  differ  much  in  outward  appearance 
from  those  with  which  all  essential  parts  of 
their  organization  show  them  to  be  really 
closely  allied.  They  appear  like  actors  or  mas- 
queraders  dressed  up  and  painted  for  amuse- 
ment, or  like  swindlers  endeavouring  to  pass 
themselves  off  for  well-known  and  respectable 
members  of  society.  What  is  the  meaning  of 
96 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

this  strange  travesty  ?  Docs  nature  descend 
to  imposture  or  masquerade?  We  answer,  she 
does  not.  Her  principles  are  too  severe.  There 
is  a  use  in  every  detail  of  her  handiwork.  The 
resemblance  of  one  animal  to  another  is  of 
exactly  the  same  essential  nature  as  the  resem- 
blance to  a  leaf,  or  to  bark,  or  to  desert  sand, 
and  answers  exactly  the  same  purpose.  In  the 
one  case  the  enemy  will  not  attack  the  leaf  or 
the  bark,  and  so  the  disguise  is  a  safeguard; 
in  the  other  case  it  is  found  that  for  \arious 
reasons  the  creature  resembled  is  passed  over, 
and  not  attacked  by  the  usual  enemies  of  its 
order,  and  thus  the  creature  that  resembles  it 
has  an  equally  effectual  safeguard.  We  are 
plainly  shown  that  the  disguise  is  of  the  same 
nature  in  the  two  cases,  by  the  occurrence  in 
the  same  group  of  one  species  resembling  a 
vegetable  substance,  while  another  resembles 
a  living  animal  of  another  group;  and  we  know 
that  the  creatures  resembled  possess  an  im- 
munity from  attack,  by  their  being  always  very 
abundant,  by  their  being  conspicuous  and  not 
concealing  themselves,  and  by  their  having 
generally  no  visible  means  of  escape  from  their 
enemies;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  particular 
quality  that  makes  them  disliked  is  often  very 
clear,  such  as  a  nasty  taste  or  an  indigestible 
hardness.  Further  examination  reveals  the  fact 
that,  in  several  cases  of  both  kinds  of  disguise, 
it  is  the  female  only  that  is  thus  disguised; 
and  as  it  can  be  shown  that  the  female  needs 
97 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

protection  much  more  than  the  male,  and  that 
her  preservation  for  a  much  longer  period  is 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  continuance  of  the 
race,  we  have  an  additional  indication  that  the 
resemblance  is  in  all  cases  subservient  to  a  great 
purpose — the  preservation  of  the  species. 

In  endeavouring  to  explain  these  phenomena 
as  having  been  brought  about  by  variation  and 
natural  selection,  we  start  with  the  fact  that 
white  varieties  frequently  occur,  and  when  pro- 
tected from  enemies  show  no  incapacity  for 
continued  existence  and  increase.  We  know, 
further,  that  varieties  of  many  other  tints 
occasionally  occur;  and  as  "the  survival  of  the 
fittest"  must  inevitably  weed  out  those  whose 
colours  are  prejudicial  and  preserve  those  whose 
colours  are  a  safeguard,  we  require  no  other 
mode  of  accounting  for  the  protective  tints  of 
arctic  and  desert  animals.  But  this  being  granted, 
there  is  such  a  perfectly  continuous  and  gradu- 
ated series  of  examples  of  every  kind  of  pro- 
tective imitation,  up  to  the  most  wonderful 
cases  of  what  is  termed  "mimicry,"  that  we 
can  find  no  place  at  which  to  draw  the  line 
and  say, — so  far  variation  and  natural  selection 
will  account  for  the  phenomena,  but  for  all  the 
rest  we  require  a  more  potent  cause.  The 
counter  theories  that  have  been  proposed,  that 
of  the  "special  creation"  of  each  imitative 
form,  that  of  the  action  of  similar  "conditions 
of  existence"  for  some  of  the  cases,  and  of  the 
laws  of  "hereditary  descent  and  the  reversion 
98 


Mimicry  Among  Animals 

to  ancestral  forms"  for  others, — have  all  been 
shown  to  be  beset  with  difficulties,  and  the  two 
latter  to  be  directly  contradicted  by  some  of 
the  most  constant  and  most  remarkable  of 
the   facts  to  be  accounted  for. 

The  important  part  that  protective  "re- 
semblance" has  played  in  determining  the 
colours  and  markings  of  many  groups  of  animals 
will  enable  us  to  understand  the  meaning  of 
one  of  the  most  striking  facts  in  nature,  the 
uniformity  in  the  colours  of  the  vegetable  as 
compared  with  the  wonderful  diversity  of  the 
animal  world.  There  appears  no  good  reason 
why  trees  and  shrubs  should  not  have  been 
adorned  with  as  many  varied  hues  and  as 
strikingly  designed  patterns  as  birds  and  butter- 
flies, since  the  gay  colours  of  flowers  show  that 
there  is  no  incapacity  in  vegetable  tissues  to 
exhibit  them.  But  even  flowers  themselves 
present  us  with  none  of  those  wonderful  designs, 
those  complicated  arrangements  of  stripes  and 
dots  and  patches  of  colour,  that  harmonious 
blending  of  hues  in  lines  and  bands  and  shaded 
spots,  which  are  so  general  a  feature  in  insects. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Darwin  that  we  owe 
much  of  the  beauty  of  flowers  to  the  necessity 
of  attracting  insects  to  aid  in  their  fertilization, 
and  that  much  of  the  development  of  colour 
in  the  animal  world  is  due  to  "sexual  selection," 
colour  being  universally  attractive,  and  thus 
leading  to  its  propagation  and  increase;  but 
while  fully  admitting  this,  it  will  be  evident 
99 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

from  the  facts  and  arguments  here  brought 
forward,  that  very  much  of  the  variety  both  of 
colour  and  markings  among  animals  is  due  to 
the  supreme  importance  of  concealment,  and 
thus  the  various  tints  of  minerals  and  vegetables 
have  been  directly  reproduced  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  and  again  and  again  modified  as 
more  special  protection  became  necessary.  We 
shall  thus  have  two  causes  for  the  development 
of  colour  in  the  animal  world  and  shall  be  better 
enabled  to  understand  how,  by  their  combined 
and  separate  action,  the  immense  variety  we 
now  behold  has  been  produced.  Both  causes, 
however,  will  come  under  the  general  law  of 
"Utility,"  the  advocacy  of  which,  in  its  broad- 
est sense,  we  owe  almost  entirely  to  Mr.  Darwin. 
A  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  varied 
phenomena  connected  with  this  subject  may 
not  improbably  give  us  some  information  both 
as  to  the  senses  and  the  mental  faculties  of  the 
lower  animals.  For  it  is  evident  that  if  colours 
which  please  us  also  attract  them,  and  if  the 
various  disguises  which  have  been  here  enumer- 
ated are  equally  deceptive  to  them  as  to  our- 
selves, then  both  their  powers  of  vision  and  their 
faculties  of  perception  and  emotion,  must  be 
essentially  of  the  same  nature  as  our  own — a 
fact  of  high  philosophical  importance  in  the 
study  of  our  own  nature  and  our  true  relations 
to   the   lower   animals.* 

*  The   author   continues    this    study    in    Chapter    ix   of 
"  Darwinism":  New  York,  Macmillan  Co.,  1889. — Ed. 
100 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  HORSE 
Thomas  Henry  Huxley 

[Professor  Huxley  as  a  naturalist,  educator,  and  contro- 
versialist was  one  of  the  commanding  figures  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  To  physiology  and  morphology  his  re- 
searches added  much  of  importance:  as  an  expositor  he  stood 
unapproached.  As  the  bold  and  witty  champion  of  Dar- 
winism he  gave  natural  selection  an  acceptance  much  more 
early  and  wide  than  it  would  otherwise  have  enjoyed.  In 
1S76  he  delivered  in  America  three  lectures  on  Evolution: 
the  third  of  the  series  is  here  given.  All  three  are  copy- 
righted and  published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  in 
a  volume  which  also  contains  a  lecture  on  the  study  of 
biology.  Since  1876  the  arguments  of  Professor  Huxley 
have  been  reinforced  by  the  discovery  of  many  fossils  con- 
necting not  only  the  horse,  but  other  quadrupeds,  with 
species  widely  different  and  now  extinct.  The  most  com- 
prehensive collection  illustrating  the  descent  of  the  horse 
is  to  be  seen  at  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York,  where  also  the  evolution  of  tapirs,  camels,  llamas, 
rhinoceroses,  dinosaurs,  great  ground  sloths  and  other  animals 
are  clearly  to  be  traced — in  most  cases  by  remains  dis«. 
in  America.  A  capital  book  on  the  theme  broached  by 
Professor  Huxley  is  "Animals  of  the  Past,"  by  Frederic 
A.  Lucas,  Curator  of  the  Division  of  Comparati 
United  States  National  Museum,  Washington,  D.  C,  pub- 
lished by  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.,  New  York. 

"The  Life  and  Letters  of  Professor  Huxley,"  edited  by 
his  son,  Leonard  Huxley,  is  a  work  of  rare  interest:  it  is 
published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York.fl 

The   occurrence  of  historical    farts  is   said    to 
be  demonstrated,  when  the  evidence  thatthey 
101 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

happened  is  of  such  a  character  as  to  render 
the  assumption  that  they  did  not  happen  in 
the  highest  degree  improbable ;  and  the  question 
I  now  have  to  deal  with  is,  whether  evidence 
in  favour  of  the  evolution  of  animals  of  this 
degree  of  cogency  is,  or  is  not,  obtainable  from 
the  record  of  the  succession  of  living  forms 
which  is  presented  to  us  by  fossil  remains. 

Those  who  have  attended  to  the  progress  of 
palaeontology  are  aware  that  evidence  of  the 
character  which  I  have  denned  has  been  pro- 
duced in  considerable  and  continually-increas- 
ing quantity  during  the  last  few  years.  Indeed, 
the  amount  and  the  satisfactory  nature  of  that 
evidence  are  somewhat  surprising,  when  we 
consider  the  conditions  under  which  alone  we 
can  hope  to  obtain  it. 

It  is  obviously  useless  to  seek  for  such  evi- 
dence, except  in  localities  in  which  the  physical 
conditions  have  been  such  as  to  permit  of  the 
deposit  of  an  unbroken,  or  but  rarely  interrupted, 
series  of  strata  through  a  long  period  of  time; 
in  which  the  group  of  animals  to  be  investigated 
has  existed  in  such  abundance  as  to  furnish 
the  requisite  supply  of  remains;  and  in  which, 
finally,  the  materials  composing  the  strata  are 
such  as  to  insure  the  preservation  of  these  re- 
mains in  a  tolerably  perfect  and  undisturbed 
state. 

It  so  happens  that  the  case  which,  at  present, 
most  nearly  fulfils  all  these  conditions  is    that 
of  the  series  of  extinct  animals  which  culminates 
102 


The  Evolution   of  the   Horse 

in  the  horses;  by  which  term  I  mean  to  denote 
not  merely  the  domestic  animals  with  which 
avc  are  all  so  well  acquainted,  but  their  allies, 
the  ass,  zebra,  quagga,  and  the  like.  In  short, 
I  use  "horses"  as  the  equivalent  of  the  technical 
name  Equidae,  which  is  applied  to  the  whole 
group  of  existing  equine  animals. 

The  horse  is  in  many  ways  a  remarkable  ani- 
mal; not  least  so  in  the  fact  that  it  presents 
us  with  an  example  of  one  of  the  most  ] 
pieces  of  machinery  in  the  living  world.  In 
truth,  among  the  works  of  human  ingenuity 
it  cannot  be  said  that  there  is  any  locomotive 
so  perfectly  adapted  to  its  purposes,  doing  so 
much  work  with  so  small  a  quantity  of  fuel, 
as  this  machine  of  nature's  manufacture — the 
horse.  And,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  any 
sort  of  perfection,  of  mechanical  perfection  as 
of  others,  you  find  that  the  horse  is  a  beautiful 
creature,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  land 
animals.  Look  at  the  perfect  balance  of  its 
form,  and  the  rhythm  and  force  of  its  action. 
The  locomotive  machinery  is,  as  you  are  aware, 
resident  in  its  slender  fore  and  hind  limbs; 
they  are  flexible  and  clastic  levers,  capable  of 
being  moved  by  very  powerful  muscles;  and, 
in  order  to  supply  the  engines  which  work  these 
levers  with  the  force  which  they  expend,  the 
horse  is  provided  with  a  very  perfect  apparatus 
for  grinding  its  food  and  extracting  therefrom 
thv«   requisite   fuel. 

Without    attempting    to    take    you    very    far 
103 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

into  the  region  of  osteological  detail,  I  must 
nevertheless  trouble  you  with  some  statements 
respecting  the  anatomical  structure  of  the 
horse;  and,  more  especially,  will  it  be  needful 
to  obtain  a  general  conception  of  the  structure 
of  its  fore  and  hind  limbs,  and  of  its  teeth. 
But  I  shall  only  touch  upon  these  points  which 
are   absolutely   essential   to   our  inquiry. 

Let  us  turn  in  the  first  place  to  the  fore- 
limb.  In  most  quadrupeds,  as  in  ourselves, 
the  fore-arms  contains  distinct  bones  called  the 
radius  and  the  ulna.  The  corresponding  region 
in  the  horse  seem  at  first  to  possess  but  one 
bone.  Careful  observation,  however,  enables 
us  to  distinguish  in  this  bone  a  part  which 
clearly  answers  to  the  upper  end  of  the  ulna. 
This  is  closely  united  with  the  chief  mass  of  the 
bone  which  represents  the  radius,  and  runs  out 
into  a  slender  shaft  which  may  be  traced  for 
some  distance  downwards  upon  the  back  of 
the  radius,  and  then  in  most  cases  thins  out 
and  vanishes.  It  takes  still  more  trouble  to 
make  sure  of  what  is  nevertheless  the  fact, 
that  a  small  part  of  the  lower  end  of  the  bone 
of  the  horse's  fore-arm,  which  is  only  distinct 
in  a  very  young  foal,  is  really  the  lower  ex- 
tremity of  the  ulna. 

What  is  commonly  called  the  knee  of  a  horse 
is  its  wrist.  The  "cannon  bone"  answers  to  the 
middle  bone  of  the  five  metacarpal  bones, 
which  support  the  palm  of  the  hand  in  our- 
selves. The  "pastern,"  "coronary,"  and  "coffin" 
104 


The   Evolution   of   the   Horse 

bones  of  veterinarians  answer  to  the  joints  of 
our  middle  fingers,  while  the  hoof  is  simply  a 
greatly  enlarged  and  thickened  nail.  But  if 
what  lies  below  the  horse's  "knee"  thus  cor- 
responds to  the  middle  finger  in  ours, 
what  has  become  of  the  four  other  lingers  or 
digits?  We  find  in  the  places  of  the  second 
and  fourth  digits  only  two  slender  splint-like 
bones,  about  two-thirds  as  long  as  the  cannon 
bone,  which  gradually  taper  to  their  lower  ends 
and  bear  no  finger  joints,  or,  as  they  are  termed, 
phalanges.  Sometimes,  small  bony  or  gristly 
nodules  are  to  be  found  at  the  bases  of  these 
two  metacarpal  splints,  and  it  is  probable 
that  these  represent  rudiments  of  the  first 
and  fifth  toes.  Thus,  the  part  of  the  horse's 
skeleton,  which  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
human  hand,  contains  one  overgrown  middle 
digit,  and  at  least  two  imperfect  lateral  digits; 
and  these  answer,  respectively,  to  the  third, 
the  second  and  the  fourth  fingers  in  man. 

Corresponding  modifications  are  found  in 
the  hind  limb.  In  ourselves,  and  in  most  quad- 
rupeds, the  leg  contains  two  distinct  bones, 
a  large  bone,  the  tibia,  and  a  smaller  and  more 
slender  bone,  the  fibula.  But,  in  the  horse, 
the  fibula  seems,  at  first,  to  be  reduced  to  its 
upper  end;  a  short  slender  bone  united  with 
the  tibia,  and  ending  in  a  point  below,  occupying 
its  place.  Examination  of  the  lower  end  of  a 
young  foal's  shin-bone,  however,  shows  a  dis- 
tinct portion  of  osseous  matter,  which  is  the 
105 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

lower  end  of  the  fibula;  so  that  the,  apparently- 
single,  lower  end  of  the  shin-bone  is  really 
made  up  of  the  coalesced  ends  of  the  tibia 
and  fibula,  just  as  the,  apparently  single,  lower 
end  of  the  fore-arm  bone  is  composed  of  the 
coalesced  radius  and  ulna. 

The  heel  of  the  horse  is  the  part  commonly 
known  as  the  hock.  The  hinder  cannon  bone 
answers  to  the  middle  metatarsal  bone  of  the 
human  foot,  the  pastern,  coronary,  and  coffin 
bones,  to  the  middle  toe  bones;  the  hind  hoof 
to  the  nail;  as  in  the  fore-foot.  And,  as  in  the 
fore-foot,  there  are  merely  two  splints  to  repre- 
sent the  second  and  the  fourth  toes.  Sometimes 
a  rudiment  of  a  fifth  toe  appears  to  be  traceable. 

The  teeth  of  a  horse  are  not  less  peculiar 
than  its  limbs.  The  living  engine,  like  all  others, 
must  be  well  stoked  if  it  is  to  do  its  work;  and 
the  horse,  if  it  is  to  make  good  its  wear  and  tear, 
and  to  exert  the  enormous  amount  of  force 
required  for  its  propulsion,  must  be  well  and 
rapidly  fed.  To  this  end  good  cutting  instru- 
ments and  powerful  and  lasting  crushers  are 
needful.  Accordingly,  the  twelve  cutting  teeth 
of  a  horse  are  close-set  and  concentrated  in  the 
fore-part  of  its  mouth,  like  so  many  adzes  or 
chisels.  The  grinders  or  molars  are  large,  and 
have  an  extremely  complicated  structure, 
being  composed  of  a  number  of  different 
substances  of  unequal  hardness.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  is  that  they  wear  away  at 
different  rates;  and,  hence,  the  surface  of 
106 


The   Evolution   of  the   Horse 

each    grinder  is    always  as  uneven  as  that  of  a 
good  millstone. 

I  have  said  that  the  structure  of  the  grinding 
teeth  is  very  complicated,  the  harder  and  the 
softer  parts  being,  as  it  were,  interlaced  with 
one  another.  The  result  of  this  is  that,  as  the 
tooth  wears,  the  crown  presents  a  peculiar 
pattern,  the  nature  of  which  is  not  very  easily 
deciphered  at  first,  but  which  it  is  important 
we  should  understand  clearly.  Each  grinding 
tooth  of  the  upper  jaw  has  an  outer  wall  so 
shaped  that,  on  the  worn  crown,  it  exhibits 
the  form  of  two  crescents,  one  in  front  and  one 
behind,  with  their  concave  sides  turned  out- 
wards. From  the  inner  side  of  the  front  crescent, 
a  crescentic  front  ridge  passes  inwards  and 
backwards,  and  its  inner  fare  enlarges  into  a 
strong  longitudinal  fold  or  pillar.  From  the 
front  part  of  the  hinder  crescent,  a  back 
takes  a  like  direction,  and  also  has  its  pillar. 

The  deep  interspaces  or  valleys  between  these 
ridges  and  the  outer  wall  are  filled  by  bony 
substance,  which  is  called  cement,  and  coats  the 
whole    tooth. 

The  pattern  of  the  worn  face  of  each  grinding 
tooth  of  the  lower  jaw  is  quite  different.  It 
appears  to  be  formed  of  two  crescent-shaped 
ridges,  the  convexities  of  which  arc  turned 
outwards.  The  free  extremity  of  each  crescent 
has  a  pillar,  and  there  is  a  large  double  pillar 
where  the  two  crescents  meet.  The  whole 
structure  is,  as  it  were,  imbedded  in 
107 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

cement,    which    fills   up    the    valleys,    as  in  the 
upper  grinders. 

If  the  grinding  faces  of  an  upper  and  of  a 
lower  molar  of  the  same  side  are  applied  to- 
gether, it  will  be  seen  that  the  opposed  ridges 
are  nowhere  parallel,  but  that  they  frequently 
cross;  and  that  thus,  in  the  act  of  mastication, 
a  hard  surface  in  the  one  is  constantly  applied 
to  a  soft  surface  in  the  other,  and  vice  versa. 
They  thus  constitute  a  grinding  apparatus  of 
great  efficiency,  and  one  which  is  repaired  as 
fast  as  it  wears,  owing  to  the  long-continued 
growth    of    the    teeth. 

Some  other  peculiarities  of  the  dentition  of 
the  horse  must  be  noticed,  as  they  bear  upon 
what  I  shall  have  to  say  by  and  by.  Thus  the 
crowns  of  the  cutting  teeth  have  a  peculiar 
deep  pit,  which  gives  rise  to  the  well-known 
"mark"  of  the  horse.  There  is  a  large  space 
between  the  outer  incisors  and  the  front  grind- 
ers. In  this  space  the  adult  male  horse 
presents,  near  the  incisors  on  each  side,  above 
and  below,  a  canine  or  "tush,"  which  is 
commonly  absent  in  mares.  In  a  young 
horse,  moreover,  there  is  not  unfrequently 
to  be  seen,  in  front  of  the  first  grinder,  a 
very  small  tooth,  which  soon  falls  out.  If  this 
small  tooth  be  counted  as  one,  it  will  be  found 
that  there  are  seven  teeth  behind  the  canine 
on  each  side;  namely,  the  small  tooth  in 
question,  and  the  six  great  grinders,  among 
which,  by  an  unusual  peculiarity,  the  fore- 
108 


The   Evolution   of  the   Horse 

most  tooth  is  rather  larger  than  those  which 
follow   it. 

I  have  now  enumerated  those  characteristic 
structures  of  the  horse  which  are  of  most  im- 
portance for  the  purpose  we  have  in  view. 

To  any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  mor- 
phology [comparative  forms!]  of  vertebrated 
animals,  they  show  that  the  horse  deviates 
widely  from  the  general  structure  of  mammals; 
and  that  the  horse  type  is,  in  many  respects, 
an  extreme  modification  of  the  general  mam- 
malian plan.  The  least  modified  mammals, 
in  fact,  have  the  radius  and  ulna,  the  tibia 
and  fibula,  distinct  and  separate.  They  have 
five  distinct  and  complete  digits  on  each  foot, 
and  no  one  of  these  digits  is  very  much  larger 
than  the  rest.  Moreover,  in  the  least  modified 
mammals  the  total  number  of  the  teeth  is  very 
generally  forty-four,  while  in  horses  the  usual 
number  is  forty,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
canines  it  may  be  reduced  to  thirty-six;  the 
incisor  teeth  are  devoid  of  the  fold  seen  in  those 
of  the  horse:  the  grinders  regularly  diminish 
in  size  from  the  middle  of  the  series  to  its  front 
end;  while  their  crowns  are  short,  early  attain 
their  full  length,  and  exhibit  simple  ridges  or 
tubercles,  in  place  of  the  complex  foldings  of 
the  horse's  grinders. 

Hence  the  general  principles  of  the  hypothe- 
sis of  evolution  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
horse  must  have  been  derived  from  some  quadru- 
ped which  possessed  five  complete  digits  on 
109 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

each  foot;  which  had  the  bones  of  the  fore-arm 
and  of  the  leg  complete  and  separate;  and 
which  possessed  forty-four  teeth,  among  which 
the  crowns  of  the  incisors  and  grinders  had  a 
simple  structure;  while  the  latter  gradually 
increased  in  size  from  before  backwards,  at  any 
rate  in  the  anterior  part  of  the  series,  and  had 
short  crowns. 

And  if  the  horse  has  been  thus  evolved,  and 
the  remains  of  the  different  stages  of  its  evolu- 
tion have  been  preserved,  they  ought  to  present 
us  with  a  series  of  forms  in  which  the  number 
of  the  digits  becomes  reduced;  the  bones  of  the 
fore-arm  and  leg  gradually  take  on  the  equine 
condition;  and  the  form  and  arrangement  of 
the  teeth  successively  approximate  to  those 
which    obtain   in    existing   horses. 

Let  us  turn  to  the  facts,  and  see  how  far  they 
fulfil  these  requirements  of  the  doctrine  of  evo- 
lution. 

In  Europe  abundant  remains  of  horses  are 
found  in  the  Quaternary  and  later  Tertiary 
strata  as  far  as  the  Pliocene  formation.  But 
these  horses,  which  are  so  common  in  the  cave- 
deposits  and  in  the  gravels  of  Europe,  are  in 
all  essential  respects  like  existing  horses.  And 
that  is  true  of  all  the  horses  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  Pliocene  epoch.  But  in  deposits  which 
belong  to  the  earlier  Pliocene  and  later  Miocene 
epochs,  and  which  occur  in  Britain,  in  France, 
in  Germany,  in  Greece,  in  India,  we  find  animals 
which  are  extremely  like  horses — which,  in  fact, 
110 


The   Evolution   of  the   Horse 

are  so  similar  to  horses  that  you  may  follow 
descriptions  given  in  works  upon  the  anatomy 
of  the  horse  upon  the  skeletons  of  these  animals 
— but  which  differ  in  some  important  particu- 
lars. For  example,  the  structure  of  their  fore 
and  hind  limbs  is  somewhat  different.  The 
bones  which,  in  the  horse,  are  represented  by 
two  splints,  imperfect  below,  are  as  long  as  the 
middle  metacarpal  and  metatarsal  bones;  and 
attached  to  the  extremity  of  each  is  a  digit 
with  three  joints  of  the  same  general  character 
as  those  of  the  middle  digit,  only  very  much 
smaller.  These  small  digits  are  so  disposed 
that  they  could  have  had  but  very  little  func- 
tional importance,  and  they  must  have  been 
rather  of  the  nature  of  the  dew-claws,  such  as 
are  to  be  found  in  many  ruminant  animals. 
The  Hipparion,  as  the  extinct  European  three- 
toed  horse  is  called,  in  fact,  presents  a  foot  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  American  Protohippus  (Fig.  9), 
except  that  in  the  Hipparion  the  smaller  digits 
are  situated  farther  back  and  are  of  smaller 
proportional  size  than  in  the  Protohippus. 

The  ulna  is  slightly  more  distinct  than  in  the 
horse;  and  the  whole  length  of  it,  as  a  very 
slender  shaft  intimately  united  with  the  radius, 
is  completely  traceable.  The  fibula  appears  to 
be  in  the  same  condition  as  in  the  horse.  The 
teeth  of  the  Hipparion  are  essentially  similar 
to  those  of  the  horse,  but  the  pattern  of  the 
grinders  is  in  some  respects  a  little  more  com- 
plex, and  there  is  a  depression  on  the  face  of 
111 


Masterpieces    of   Science 

the  skull  in  front  of  the  orbit,  which  is  not  seen 
in  existing  horses. 

In  the  earlier  Miocene,  and  perhaps  the  later 
Eocene  deposits  of  some  parts  of  Europe,  another 
extinct  animal  has  been  discovered,  which  Cuvier, 
who  first  described  some  fragments  of  it,  con- 
sidered to  be  a  PalcEOtherium.  But  as  further 
discoveries  threw  new  light  on  its  structure,  it 
was  recognized  as  a  distinct  genus  under  the 
name  of  Anchitherium. 

In  its  general  characters,  the  skeleton  of  Anchi- 
therium is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  horse.  In 
fact,  Lartet  and  De  Blainville  called  it  Paloeo- 
therium  equimtm  or  hippoides;  and  De  Christol, 
in  1847,  said  that  it  differed  from  Hipparion  in 
little  more  than  the  characters  of  its  teeth,  and 
gave  it  the  name  of  Hipparithcrium.  Each  foot 
possesses  three  complete  toes;  while  the  lateral 
toes  are  much  larger  in  proportion  to  the  middle 
toe  than  in  Hipparion,  and  doubtless  rested  on 
the  ground  in  ordinary  locomotion. 

The  ulna  is  complete  and  quite  distinct  from 
that  radius,  though  firmly  united  with  the  latter. 
The  fibula  seems  also  to  have  been  complete. 
Its  lower  end,  though  intimately  united  with  that 
of  the  tibia,  is  clearly  marked  off  from  the  latter 
bone. 

There  are  forty-four  teeth.  The  incisors  have 
no  strong  pit.  The  canines  seem  to  have  been 
well  developed  in  both  sexes.  The  first  of  the 
seven  grinders,  which,  as  I  have  said,  is  frequently 
absent,  and  when  it  does  exist,  is  small  in  the 
112 


The   Evolution   of  the   Horse 

horse,  is  a  good-sized  and  permanent  tooth,  while 
the  grinder  which  follows  it  is  but  little  larger 
than  the  hinder  ones.  The  crowns  i  >f  the  grinders 
are  short,  and  though  the  fundamental  pattern 
of  the  horse-tooth  is  discernible,  the  front  and 
back  ridges  are  less  curved,  the  accessory  pillars, 
arc  wanting,  and  the  valleys,  much  shallower, 
are  not  filled  up  with  cement. 

Seven  years  ago,  when  I  happened  to  be  look- 
ing critically  into  the  bearing  of  palaeontological 
facts  upon  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  it  appeared 
to  me  that  the  Anchitherium,  the  Hipparion,  and 
the  modern  horses,  constitute  a  series  in  which 
the  modifications  of  structure  coincide  with  the 
order  of  chronological  occurrence,  in  the  manner 
in  which  they  must  coincide,  if  the  modern  horses 
really  are  the  result  of  the  gradual  met  aim  >rphosis, 
in  the  course  of  the  Tertiary  epoch,  of  a  less 
specialized  ancestral  form.  And  1  found  by  corres- 
pondence with  the  late  eminent  French  anatomist 
and  palaeontologist,  M.  Lartet,  that  he  had  arrived 
at  the  same  conclusion  from  the  same  data. 

That  the  A  nchitherium  type  had  become  meta- 
morphosed into  the  Hipparion  type,  and  the 
latter  into  the  Equinetype*  in  the  course  of  that 

*  I  use  the  word  "type"  because  it  is  highly  probable 
that  many  of  the  forms  of  Anchitherium-like  and  Hipparion- 
like  animals  existed  in  the  Miocene  and  Pliocene  e] 
just  as  many  species  of  the  horse  tribe  exist  now;  and  it  is 
highly  improbable  that  the  particular  species  of  Anchitherium 
or  Hipparion,  which  happen  to  have  been  discovered,  should 
be  precisely  those  which  have  formed  part  of  the  direct  line 
of  the  horse's  pedigree. 

113 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

period  of  time  which  is  represented  by  the  latter 
half  of  the  Tertiary  deposits,  seemed  to  me  to  be 
the  only  explanation  of  the  facts  for  which  there 
was  even  a  shadow  of  probability. 

And,  hence,  I  have  ever  since  held  that  these 
facts  afford  evidence  of  the  occurrence  of  evolu- 
tion, which,  in  the  sense  already  denned,  may  be 
termed  demonstrative. 

All  who  have  occupied  themselves  with  the 
structure  of  -4  nchitherium,  from  Cuvier  onwards, 
have  acknowledged  its  many  points  of  likeness  to 
a  well-known  genus  of  extinct  Eocene  mammals, 
Palceotherium.  Indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  Cuvier 
regarded  his  remains  of  Anchithcrium  as  those 
of  a  species  of  Palceotherium.  Hence,  in  attempt- 
ing to  trace  the  pedigree  of  the  horse  beyond  the 
Miocene  epoch  and  the  Anchitheroid  form,  I 
naturally  sought  among  the  various  species  of 
Palasotheroid  animals  for  its  nearest  ally,  and  I 
was  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Palceotherium 
minus  (Plagiolophus)  represented  the  next  step 
more  nearly  than  any  form  then  known. 

I  think  that  this  opinion  was  fully  justifiable; 
but  the  progress  of  investigation  has  thrown  an 
unexpected  light  on  the  question,  and  has  brought 
us  much  nearer  than  could  have  been  anticipated 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  series  of  the  progen- 
itors of  the  horse. 

You  are  all  aware  that,  when  your  country  was 

first    discovered    by    Europeans,   there  were    no 

traces  of  the  existence  of  the  horse  on  any  part  of 

the  American  Continent.     The  accounts  of  the 

114 


The   Evolution  of  the   Horse 

conquest  of  Mexico  dwell  upon  the-  astonishment 
of  the  natives  of  that  country  when  they  first 
became  acquainted  with  that  astounding  phe- 
nomenon— a  man  seated  upon  a  horse  Never- 
theless, the  investigations  of  American  geologists 
have  proved  that  the  remains  of  horses  occur  in 
fche  most  superficial  deposits  of  both  North  and 
South  America,  just  as  they  do  in  Europe. 
Therefore,  for  some  reason  or  other — no  feasible 
suggestion  on  that  subject,  so  far  as  I  know,  has 
been  made — the  horse  must  have  died  out  on 
this  continent  at  some  period  preceding  the  dis- 
covery of  America.  Of  late  years  there  has  been 
discovered  in  your  Western  Territories  that  mar- 
vellous accumulation  of  deposits,  admirably 
adapted  for  the  preservation  of  organic  remains, 
to  which  I  referred  the  other  evening,  and  which 
furnishes  us  with  a  consecutive  series  of  records 
of  the  fauna  of  the  older  half  of  the  Tertiary 
epoch,  for  which  we  have  no  parallel  in  Europe. 
They  have  yielded  fossils  in  an  excellent  state  of 
conservation  and  in  unexampled,  numbers  and 
variety.  The  researches  of  Leidy  and  others 
have  shown  that  forms  allied  to  the  Hipparion 
and  the  Anchitherium  are  to  be  found  among  these 
remains.  But  it  is  only  recently  that  the  ad- 
mirably conceived  and  most  thoroughly  and 
patiently  worked-out  investigations  of  Professor 
Marsh  have  given  us  a  just  idea  of  the  vast  fossil 
wealth,  and  of  the  scientific  importance,  of  these 
deposits.  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  glancing 
over  the  collections  in  Vale  Museum:  and  1  can 
115 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

truly  say,  that  so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends, 
there  is  no  collection  from  any  one  region  and 
series  of  strata  comparable,  for  extent,  or  for  the 
care  with  which  the  remains  have  been  got  to- 
gether, or  for  their  scientific  importance,  to  the 
series  of  fossils  which  he  has  deposited  there. 
This  vast  collection  has  yielded  'evidence  bearing 
upon  the  question  of  the  pedigree  of  the  horse  of 
the  most  striking  character.  It  tends  to  show 
that  we  must  look  to  America,  rather  than  to 
Europe,  for  the  original  seat  of  the  equine  series; 
and  that  the  archaic  forms  and  successive  modifi- 
cations of  the  horse's  ancestry  are  far  better  pre- 
served here  than  in  Europe. 

Professor  Marsh's  kindness  has  enabled  me 
to  put  before  you  a  diagram,  every  figure  of 
which  is  an  actual  representation  of  some  speci- 
men which  is  to  be  seen  at  Yale  at  this  present 
time  (Fig.  9). 

The  succession  of  forms  which  he  has  brought 
together  carries  us  from  the  top  to  the  bottom 
of  the  Tertiaries.  Firstly,  there  is  the  true  horse. 
Next  we  have  the  American  Pliocene  form  of 
the  horse  (Pliohippus) ;  in  the  conformation  of 
its  limbs  its  presents  some  very  slight  deviations 
from  the  ordinary  horse,  and  the  crowns  of  the 
grinding  teeth  are  shorter.  Then  comes  the 
Protohippus,  which  represents  the  European 
Hipparion,  having  one  large  digit  and  two  small 
ones  on  each  foot,  and  the  general  characters  of 
the  fore-arm  and  leg  to  which  I  have  referred. 
But  it  is  more  valuable  than  the  European  Hip- 
116 


The   Evolution  01   the   Horse 

parion  for  the  reason  that  it  is  devoid  of  some  of 
the  peculiarities  of  that  form — peculiarities  which 
tend  to  show  that  the  European  Hipparion  is 
rather  a  member  of  a  collateral  branch,  than  a 
form  in  the  direct  line  of  succession.  Next,  in 
the  backward  order  in  time,  is  the  Miohippus, 
which  corresponds  pretty  nearly  with  the  .  1  nchi- 
thcrium  of  Europe.  It  presents  three  complete 
toes — one  large  median  and  two  smaller 
lateral  ones;  and  there  is  a  rudiment  of  that 
digit,  which  answers  to  the  little  ringer  of  the 
human  hand. 

The  European  record  of  the  pedigree  of  the 
horse  stops  here;  in  the  American  Tertiaries,  on 
the  contrary,  the  series  of  ancestral  equine  forms 
is  continued  into  the  Eocene  formations.  An 
older"  Miocene  form,  termed  Mesohippus,  has 
three  toes  in  front,  with  a  large  splint-like  rudi- 
ment representing  the  little  finger;  and  three  toes 
behind.  The  radius  and  ulna,  the  tibia  and  the 
fibula,  are  distinct,  and  the  short  crowned  molar 
teeth  are  anehithcrioid  in  pattern. 

But  the  most  important  discovery  of  all  is 
the  Orohippus,  which  comes  from  the  Eocene, for- 
mation, and  which  is  the  oldest  member  of  the 
equine  series,  as  yet  known.  Here  we  find  four 
complete  toes  on  the  front-limb,  three  toes  on 
the  hind-limb,  a  well-developed  ulna,  a  well- 
developed  fibula,  and  short-crowned  grinders  of 
simple  pattern. 

Thus,  thanks  to  these  important  researches,  it 
has  become  evident  that,  so  far  as  our  present 
117 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

knowledge  extends,  the  history  of  the  horse-type 
is  exactly  and  precisely  that  which  could  have 
been  predicted  from  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  evolution.  And  the  knowledge  we  now  pos- 
sess justifies  us  completely  in  the  anticipation, 
that  when  the  still  lower  Eocene  deposits,  and 
those  which  belong  to  the  Cretaceous  epoch,  have 
yielded  up  their  remains  of  ancestral  equine 
animals,  we  shall  find,  first,  a  form  with  four  com- 
plete toes  and  a  rudiment  of  the  innermost  or 
first  digit  in  front,  with  probably,  a  rudiment  of 
the  fifth  digit  in  the  hind  foot;*  while,  in  still 
older  forms,  the  series  of  the  digits  will  be  more 
and  more  complete,  until  we  come  to  the  five- 
toed  animals,  in  which,  if  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion is  well  founded,  the  whole  series  must  have 
taken  its  origin. 

That  is  what  I  mean  by  demonstrative  evi- 
dence of  evolution.  An  inductive  hypothesis  is 
said  to  be  demonstrated  when  the  facts  are  shown 
to  be  in  entire  accordance  with  it.  If  that  is  not 
scientific  proof,  there  are  no  merely  inductive 
conclusions  which  can  be  said  to  be  proved.  And 
the  doctrine  of  evolution,  at  the  present  time, 
rests  upon  exactly  as  secure  a  foundation  as  the 
Copernican  theory  of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  did  at  the  time  of  its  promulgation.  Its 
logical  basis  is  precisely  of  the  same  character — 

*  Since  this  lecture  was  delivered,  Professor  Marsh  has 
discovered  a  new  genus  of  equine  mammals  (Eohippus) 
from  the  lowest  Eocene  deposits  of  the  West,  which  corre- 
sponds very  nearly  to  this  description. — American  Journal 
of  Science,  November,  1876. 

118 


The   Evolution   of  the   Horse 

the  coincidence  of  the  observed  facts  with  theo- 
retical requirements. 

The  only  way  of  escape,  if  it  be  a  way  of  es< 
from  the  conclusions  which  I  have  just  indicated, 
is  the  supposition  that  all  these  different  equine 
forms  have  been  created  separately  at  separate 
epochs  of  time;  and,  I  repeat,  that  of  such  an 
hypothesis  as  this  there  neither  is,  nor  can  be, 
any  scientific  evidence;  and,  assuredly,  so  far  as 
I  know,  there  is  none  which  is  supported,  or  pre- 
tends to  be  supported,  by  evidence  or  authority 
of  any  other  kind.  I  can  but  think  that  the  time 
will  come  when  such  suggestions  as  these,  such 
obvious  attempts  to  escape  the  force  of  demon- 
stration, will  be  put  upon  the  same  footing  as 
the  supposition  made  by  some  writers,  who  arc,  I 
believe,  not  completely  extinct  at  present,  that 
fossils  are  mere  simulacra  [images],  are  no  indica- 
tions of  the  former  existence  of  the  animals  to 
which  they  seem  to  belong;  but  that  they  are 
either  sports  of  Nature,  or  special  creations,  in- 
tended— as  I  heard  suggested  the  other  day — to 
test  our  faith. 

In  fact,  the  whole  evidence  is  in  favour  of  evo- 
lution, and  there  is  none  against  it.  And  I  say 
this,  although  perfectly  well  aware  of  the  seeming 
difficulties  which  have  been  built  up  upon  what 
appears  to  the  uninformed  to  be  a  solid  founda- 
tion. I  meet  constantly  with  the  argument  that 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  cannot  be  well  founded 
because  it  requires  the  lapse  of  a  very  vast  period 
of  time;  while  the  duration  of  life  upon  the  earth. 
119 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

thus  implied,  is  inconsistent  with  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  by  the  astronomer  and  the  physicist. 
I  may  venture  to  say  that  I  am  familiar  with 
those  conclusions,  inasmuch  as  some  years  ago, 
when  president  of  the  Geological  Society  of  Lon- 
don, I  took  the  liberty  of  criticising  them,  and  of 
showing  in  what  respects,  as  it  appeared  to  me, 
they  lacked  complete  and  thorough  demonstra- 
tion. But,  putting  that  point  aside,  suppose 
that,  as  the  astronomers,  or  some  of  them,  and 
some  physical  philosophers  tell  us,  it  is  impossible 
that  life  could  have  endured  upon  the  earth  for 
so  long  a  period  as  is  required  by  the  doctrine  of 
evolution — supposing  that  to  be  proved — I  desire 
to  be  informed,  what  is  the  foundation  for  the 
statement  that  evolution  does  require  so  great  a 
time  ?  The  biologist  knows  nothing  whatever  of 
the  amount  of  time  which  may  be  required  for 
the  process  of  evolution.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact 
that  the  equine  forms,  which  I  have  described  to 
you,  occur,  in  the  order  stated,  in  the  Tertiary 
formations.  But  I  have  not  the  slightest  means 
of  guessing  whether  it  took  a  million  of  years,  or 
ten  millions,  or  a  hundred  millions,  or  a  thousand 
millions  of  years,  to  give  rise  to  that  series  of 
changes.  A  biologist  has  no  means  of  arriving 
at  any  conclusions  as  to  the  amount  of  time  which 
may  be  needed  for  a  certain  quantity  of  organic 
change.  He  takes  his  time  from  the  geologist. 
The  geologist,  considering  the  rate  at  which 
deposits  are  formed  and  the  rate  at  which  denuda- 
tion goes  on  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  ar- 
120 


The    Evolution   of   the   Horse 

rives  at  more  or  less  justifiable  conclusions  as  to 
the  time  which  is  required  for  the  deposil   of  a 

certain  thickness  of  rocks;  and  if  he  tells  me  thai 
the  Tertiary  formations  required  500,000,000 
years  for  their  deposit,  I  suppose  he  has  good 
ground  for  what  he  says,  and  I  take  that  as  a 
measure  of  the  duration  of  the  evolution  of  the 
horse  from  the  Orohippus  up  to  its  present  con- 
dition. And,  if  he  is  right,  undoubtedly  evolu- 
tion is  a  very  slow  process,  and  requires  a  great 
deal  of  time.  But  suppose  now,  that  an  astrono- 
mer or  a  physicist — for  instance,  my  friend  Sir 
William  Thomson — tells  me  that  my  geological 
authority  is  quite  wrong;  and  that  he  has  weighty 
evidence  to  show  that  life  could  not  possibly  have 
existed  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth  500,000,000 
years  ago,  because  the  earth  would  have  then  1  teen 
too  hot  to  allow  of  life,  my  reply  is:  "That  is  not 
my  affair;  settle  that  with  the  geologist,  and  when 
you  have  come  to  an  agreement  among  y<  >ur- 
selves  I  will  adopt  your  conclusions."  We  take 
our  time  from  the  geologists  and  physicists,  and 
it  is  monstrous  that,  having  taken  our  time 
from  the  physical  philosopher's  clock,  the  physi- 
cal philosopher  should  turn  round  upon  us,  and 
say  we  are  too  fast  or  too  slow.  What  we  desire 
to  know  is,  is  it  a  fact  that  evolution  took  place  ? 
As  to  the  amount  of  time  which  evolution  may 
have  occupied,  we  are  in  the  hands  of  the  phy- 
sicist and  the  astronomer,  whose  business  it  is 
to  deal  with  those  questions. 


121 


Fore  Foot.      Hind  Foot.     Fore-arm.     Leg.  £pper  Molar. 


FIGHTING  PESTS  WITH  INSECT    ALLIES 
Lelaxd  O.  Howard 

[Dr.  Howard  is  Chief  of    the  Division  of    En1 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington. 
He  is  a  lecturer  at  Swarthmore  College  and  at  Geo:-. 
University.     He  has  written  "The  Insect  Book,"  published 
by  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York;  and  a  v. 
quitoes,  issued  by  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.,  New  Y<  >rk.     Both 
are  books  of  interest  from  the  hand  of  a  master:  they  are 
.fully    illustrated.     The    narrative    which    follows    appeared 
in  Everybody' s  Magazine,  June,  njoi.j) 

Some  twenty-five  years  ago  there  appeared 
suddenly  upon  certain  acacia  trees  at  Menlo 
Park,  California,  a  very  destructive  scale  bug. 

It  rapidly  increased  and  spread  from  tree  to 
tree,  attacking  apples,  figs,  pomegranates, 
quinces,  and  roses,  and  many  other  trees  and 
plants,  but  seeming  to  prefer  to  all  other  food 
the  beautiful  orange  and  lemon  trees  which 
grow  so  luxuriantly  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
from  which  a  large  share  of  the  income  of  so 
many  fruit-growers  is  gained.  This  b 
which  came  to  be  known  as  the  white  s\ 
fluted  scale  or  the  Icerya  (from  its  scientific 
name),  was  an  insignificant  creature  in  itself, 
resembling  a  small  bit  of  fluted  wax  a  little 
more  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long.  But  when 
the  scales  had  once  taken  possession  of  a  tree, 
they  swarmed  over  it  until  the  bark  was  hidden; 
123 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

they  sucked  its  sap  through  their  minute  beaks 
until  the  plant  became  so  feeble  that  the 
leaves  and  young  fruit  dropped  off,  a  hideous 
black  smut-fungus  crept  over  the  young  twigs, 
and  the   weakened  tree    gradually   died. 

In  this  way  orchard  after  orchard  of  oranges, 
worth  a  thousand  dollars  or  more  an  acre ,  was 
utterly  destroyed;  the  best  fruit-growing  sec- 
tions of  the  State  were  invaded,  and  ruin  stared 
many  a  fruit-grower  in  the  face.  This  spread 
of  the  pest  was  gradual,  extending  through  a 
series  of  years,  and  not  until  1886  did  it  become 
so  serious  a  matter  as  to  attract  national  at- 
tention. 

In  this  year  an  investigation  was  begun  by 
the  late  Professor  C.  V.  Riley,  the  Government 
entomologist  then  connected  with  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  Washington.  He  sent 
two  agents  to  California,  both  of  whom  im- 
mediately began  to  study  the  problem  of  reme- 
dies. In  1S87  he  visited  California  himself, 
and  during  that  year  published  an  elaborate 
report  giving  the  results  of  the  work  up  to  that 
point.  The  complete  life-history  of  the  insect 
had  been  worked  out,  and  a  number  of  washes 
had  been  discovered  which  could  be  applied 
to  the  trees  in  the  form  of  a  spray,  and  which 
would  kill  a  large  proportion  of  the  pests  at  a 
comparatively  small  expense.  But  it  was  soon 
found  that  the  average  fruit-grower  would  not 
take  the  trouble  to  spray  his  trees,  largely  from 
the  fact  that  he  had  experimented  for  some 
124 


Fighting   Pests   with    Insect  Allies 

years  with  inferior  washes  and  quack  nostrums, 
and  from  lack  of  success  had  become  disgusted 
with  the  whole  idea  of  using  liquid  compounds. 
Something  easier,  something  more  radical  was 
necessary  in  his   disheartened  condition. 

Meantime,  after  much  sifting  of  evidence  and 
much  correspondence  with  naturalists  in  many 
parts  of  the  world,  Professor  Riley  had  decided 
that  the  white  scale  was  a  native  of  Australia, 
and  had  been  first  brought  over  to  California 
accidentally  upon  Australian  plants.  In  the 
same  way  it  was  found  to  have  reached  South 
Africa  and  New  Zealand,  in  both  of  which 
colonies  it  had  greatly  increased,  and  had 
become  just  such  a  pest  as  it  is  in  California. 
In  Australia,  however,  its  native  home,  it  did 
not  seem  to  be  abundant,  and  was  not  known 
as  a  pest — a  somewhat  surprising  state  of  affairs, 
which  put  the  entomologist  on  the  track  of 
the  results  which  proved  of  such  great  value 
to  California.  He  reasoned  that,  in  his  native 
home,  with  the  same  food  plants  upon  which 
it  flourished  abroad  in  such  great  abundance, 
it  would  undoubtedly  do  the  same  damage 
that  it  does  in  South  Africa,  New  Zealand, 
and  California,  if  there  were  not  in  Australia 
some  natural  enemy,  probable  some  insect 
parasite  or  predatory  beetle,  which  killed  it  off. 
It  became  therefore  important  to  send  a  trained 
man  to  Australia  to  investigate  this  promising 
line. 

After  many  difficulties  in  arranging  prelim- 
125 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

inaries  relating  to  the  payment  of  expenses  (in 
which  finally  the   Department   of  State  kindly 
assisted),    one    of    Professor    Riley's    assistants, 
a  young  German  named  Albert    Koebele,   who 
had    been    with    him    for    a    number    of   years, 
sailed  for  Australia  in  August,  1SS8.     Koebele 
was     a     skilled     collector     and    an    admirable 
man  for  the  purpose.     He  at  once  found  that 
Professor     Riley's     supposition     was     correct: 
there  existed  in  Australia  small  flies  which  laid 
their    eggs    in    the   white  scales, 
and     these     eggs    hatched     into 
grubs  which  devoured  the  pests. 
He  also  found  a  remarkable  little 
ladybird,  a  small,   reddish-brown 
convex      beetle,     which      breeds 
with    marvellous     rapidity     and 
Vedalia,    or         which,   with  voracious    appetite, 
"Ladybird  an(i  at  the  same  time  with    dis- 

criminating taste,  devours  scale 
after  scale,  but  eats  fluted  scales  only — does  not 
attack  other  insects.  This  beneficial  creature, 
now  known  as  the  Australian  ladybird,  or  the 
Vedalia,  Mr.  Koebele  at  once  began  to  collect 
in  large  numbers,  together  with  several  other 
insects  found  doing  the  same  work.  He  packed 
many  hundreds  of  living  specimens  of  the  lady- 
bird, with  plenty  of  food,  in  tin  boxes,  and  had 
them  placed  on  ice  in  the  ice-box  of  the  steamer 
at  Sydney;  they  were  carried  carefully  to  Cali- 
fornia, where  they  were  liberated  upon  orange 
trees    at    Los   Angeles. 

126 


Fighting  Pests  with    Insect   Allies 


These  sendings  were  repeated  t'^v  several 
months,  and  Mr.  Kocbclc,  on  his  return  in  April, 
1889,    brought    with    him    many    more    living 

specimens  which  he  had  collected  on   his  wax- 
home  in  New  Zealand,  where  the  same  Vedalia 
had  been  accidentally  introduced  a 
before. 

The  result  more  than  justified  the  most  san- 
guine   expectations.        The    ladybirds    reached 
Los     Angeles     alive,     and, 
with    appetites     sharpened 
by  their    long    ocean   voy- 
age, immediately  fell  upon 
the  devoted  scales  and  de- 
voured them  one  after  an- 
other almost  without  rest. 
Their   hunger    temporarily 
satisfied,  they  began  t>>  lax- 
eggs.     These  eggs  hatched 
in  a  few   days   into  active 
grub-like     creatures  —  the 
larvae  of   the  beetles — and 
these      grubs      proved      as 
voracious    as     their    parents. 
the    scales    right  and  left,    and   in    less    than    a 
month  transformed  once  more   to  beetles. 

And  so  the  work  of  extermination  went  <>n. 
Each  female  beetle  laid  on  an  average  300 
eggs,  and  each  of  these  eggs  hatched  into  a 
hungry  larva.  Supposing  that  one-half  of  these 
larvae  produced  female  beetles,  a  simple  cal- 
culation will  show  that  in  six  months  a  single 
127 


Larva?  of  Vedalia 
eating  White  Scale 

They    dev 


Masterpieces   of   Science 


ladybird  became  the  ancestor  of  75,000,000,000 
of  other  ladybirds,  each  capable  of  destroying 
very  many  scale  insects. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  fluted  scales 
soon      began  to   disappear?      Is  it   any  wonder 
that    orchard    after    orchard    was 
entirely  freed  from  the   pest,   until 
now    over    a    large   section   of  the 
State  hardly  an    Icerya    is    to    be 
found?     And  could   a  more  strik- 
ing illustration  of  the  value   of  the 
study    of    insects   possibly   be   in- 
stanced?      In    less    than     a    year 
from    the    time    when  the  first  of 
these     hungry     Australians      was 
liberated     from    his    box    in    Los 
Angeles  the  orange  trees  were  once 
more  in  bloom  and  were  resuming 
their  old-time  verdure — the  Icerya 
had  become  practically  a  thing  of 
the  past. 

This  wonderfdl  saccess  encour- 
aged other  efforts  in  the  same 
direction.  .  The  State  of  California 
some  years  later  sent  the  same 
entomologist,  Koebele,  to  Aus- 
tralia to  search  for  some  insect 
enemy  of  the  black  scale,  an  insect 
which  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  ex- 
tensive olive  orchards  of  California.  He  found 
and  successfully  introduced  another  ladybird 
beetle,  known  as  Rhizobius  ventralis,  a  little 
128 


Twig  of  olive 
infected  with 
Black  Scale 


Fighting   Pests   with   Insect   Allies 


dark-coloured  creature  which  has  thrived  in  the 
California  climate,  especially  near  the  sea 
and  in  the  damp  air  of  those  regions  has  suc- 
cessfully held  the  Mack  scale  in  check.  It  was 
found,  however,  that  back  from  the  seacoast 
this  insect  did  not  seem  to  thrive  with  the 
same  vigor,  and  the  black  scale  held  its  own. 
Then  a  spirited  controversy  sprung  up  among  the 
olive-growers,  those  near 
the  seacoast  contending 
that  the  Rhizobius  was 
a  perfect  remedy  for  the 
scale,  while  those  inland 
insisted  that  it  was 
worthless.  A  few  years 
later  it  was  '  discovered 
that  this  olive  enemy 
in  South  Europe  is  killed 
by  a  little  caterpillar, 
which  burrows  through 
scale  after  scale,  eating 
out  their  contents,    and 

an  effort  was  made  to  introduce  the  cater- 
pillar into  California,  but  these  efforts  failed. 
Within  the  past  two  years  it  has  been  found 
that  a  small  parasitic  fly  exists  in  South 
Africa  which  lays  its  eggs  in  the  same  Mack 
scale,  and  its  grub-like  larvae  eat  out  the  bodies 
of  the  scales  and  destroy  them.  The  climate  of 
the  region  in  which  this  parasite  exists  is  dry 
through  a  large  part  of  the  year,  and  therefore 
this  little  parasitic  fly,  known  as  Scittcllistd, 
129 


Rhizobius,    t1 
enemy  of  the  Black  Scale 
of  the   Olive. 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

was  thought  to  be  the  needed  insect  for  the 
dry  California  regions.  With  the  help  of  Mr. 
C.  P.  Lounsbury,  the  Government  entomologist 
of  Cape  Colony,  living  specimens  of  this  fly 
were  brought  to  this  country,  and  were  colonized 
in  the  Santa  Clara  Valley,  near  San  Jose,  Cali- 
fornia, where  they  have  perpetuated  them- 
selves and  destroyed  many  of  the  black  scales, 
and  promise  to  be  most  successful  in  their 
warfare   against   the  injurious  insect. 

This  same  Scutellista  parasite  had,  curiously 
enough,  been  previously  introduced  in  an  acci- 
dental manner  into  Italy,  probably  from  India, 
and  probably  in  scale-insects  living  on  orna- 
mental plants  brought  from  India.  But  in 
Italy  it  lives  commonly  in  another  scale  insect, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  the  learned  Italian, 
Professor  Antonio  Berlese,  the  writer  made  an  un- 
successful attempt  to  introduce  and  establish  it  a 
year  earlier  in  som  of  our  Southern  States,  where 
it  was  hoped  it  would  destroy  certain  injurious 
insects  known  as  "wax  scales." 

In  the  meantime  the  United  States,  not  con- 
tent with  keeping  all  the  good  things  to  herself, 
has  spread  the  first  ladybird  imported — the 
Vedalia — to  other  countries.  Four  years  ago 
the  white  scale  was  present  in  enormous  num- 
bers in  orange  groves  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  Tagus,  in  Portugal,  and  threatened  to  wipe 
out  the  orange-growing  industry  in  that  country. 
The  California  people,  in  pursuance  of  a  far- 
sighted  policy,  had  with  great  difficulty,  owing 
130 


Fighting   Pests  with   Insect  Allies 

to  lack  of  food,  kept  alive  some  colonies  of  the 
beneficial  beetle,  and  specimens  were  sent  to 
Portugal  which  reached  there  alive  and  flour- 
ishing. They  were  tended  for  a  short  time, 
and  then  liberated  in  the  orange  groves,  with 
precisely  the  same  result  as  in  California.  In 
a  few  months  the  scale  insects  were  almost 
entirely  destroyed,  and  the  Portuguese  or. 
growers   saved   from   enormous   loss. 

This  good  result  in  Portugal  was  not  ac- 
complished without  opposition.  It  was  tried 
experimentally  at  the  advice  of  the  writer, 
and  in  the  face  of  great  incredulity  on  the  part 
of  certain  Portuguese  newspapers  and  of  some 
officials.  By  many  prominent  persons  the 
account  published  of  the  work  of  the  insect 
in  the  United  States  was  considered  as  un- 
trustworthy, and  simply  another  instance  of 
American  boasting.  But  the  opposition 
was  overruled,  and  the  triumphant  result 
silenced  all  opposition.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  general  opinion  among  Portuguese  orange- 
growers  to-day  is  very  favourable  to  American 
enterprise   and  practical  scientific   acumen. 

The  Vedalia  was  earlier  sent  to  the  j 
in  Alexandria  and  Cairo,  Egypt,  where  a  similar 
scale  was  damaging  the  tig  trees  and  other 
valuable  plants,  and  the  result  was  again  the 
same,  the  injurious  insects  were  destroyed. 
This  was  achieved  only  after  extensive  cor- 
respondence and  several  failures.  The  active 
agent  in  Alexandria  was  Rear  Admiral  I 
131 


Masterpieces   of    Science 

field,  of  the  British  Royal  Navy,  a  man  appar- 
ently of  wide  information,  good  judgment,  and 
great   energy. 

The  same  thing  occurred  when  the  California 
people  sent  this  saviour  of  horticulture  to  South 
Africa,  where  the  white  scale  had  also  made 
its    appearance. 

It  is  not  only  beneficial  insects,  however, 
which  are  being  imported,  but  diseases  of  in- 
jurious insects.  In  South  Africa  the  colonists 
suffer  severely  from  swarms  of  migratory  grass- 
hoppers, which  fly  from  the  north  and  destroy 
their  crops.  They  have  discovered  out  there  a 
fungus  disease,  which  under  favorable  con- 
ditions kills  off  the  grasshoppers  in  enormous 
numbers.  At  the  Bacteriological  Institute  in 
Grahamstown,  Natal,  they  have  cultivated  this 
fungus  in  culture  tubes,  and  have  carried  it 
successfully  throughout  the  whole  year;  and  they 
have  used  it  practically  by  distributing  these 
culture  tubes  wherever  swarms  of  grasshoppers 
settle  and  lay  their  eggs.  The  disease,  once 
started  in  an  army  of  young  grasshoppers, 
soon  reduces  them  to  harmless  numbers.  The 
United  States  Government  last  year  secured 
culture  tubes  of  this  disease,  and  experiments 
carried  on  in  Colorado  and  in  Mississippi  show 
that  the  vitality  of  the  fungus  had  not  been 
destroyed  by  its  long  ocean  voyage,  and  many 
grasshoppers  were  killed  by  its  spread.  During 
the  past  winter  other  cultures  were  brought  over 
from  Cape  Colony,  and  the  fungus  is  being  pro. 
132 


Fighting   Pests  with  Insect    Allies 

pagated  in  the   Department   of  Agriculture  for 
distribution  during  the  coming  summer  in  parts 


Grasshopper  dying  from  Fungus  Disease 


of  the  country  where   grasshoppers  may  prove 
to    be    destructively    abundant. 

Although  we  practically  no  longer  have  those 
tremendous  swarms  of  migratory  grasshoppers 
which  used  to  come  down  like  devastating 
armies  in  certain  of  our  Western  Stales  and  in 
a  night  devour  everything  green,  still,  almost 
133 


Masterpieces    of   Science 

every  year,  and  especially  in  the  West  and 
South,  there  is  somewhere  a  multiplication  of 
grasshoppers  to  a  very  injurious  degree,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  the  introduced  fungus  can  be 
used   in    such    cases. 

Persons  officially  engaged  in  searching  for 
remedies  for  injurious  insects  all  over  the  world 
have  banded  themselves  together  in  a  society 
known  as  the  Association  of  Economic  Ento- 
mologists. They  are  constantly  interchanging 
ideas  regarding  the  destruction  of  insects,  and 
at  present  active  movements  are  on  foot  in  this 
direction  of  interchanging  beneficial  insects. 
Entomologists  in  Europe  will  try  the  coming 
summer  to  send  to  the  United  States  living 
specimens  of  a  tree-inhabiting  beetle  which 
eats  the  caterpillar  of  the  gipsy  moth,  and 
which  will  undoubtedly  also  eat  the  caterpillar 
so  common  upon  the  shade-trees  of  our  prin- 
cipal Eastern  cities,  which  is  known  as  the 
Tussock  moth  caterpillar.  An  entomologist 
from  the  United  States,  Mr.  C.  L.  Marlatt,  has 
started  for  Japan,  China,  and  Java,  for  the 
purpose  of  trying  to  find  the  original  home  of 
the  famous  San  Jose  scale — an  insect  which  has 
been  doing  enormous  damage  in  the  apple, 
pear,  peach,  and  plum  orchards  of  the  United 
States — and  if  he  finds  the  original  home  of 
this  scale,  it  is  hoped  that  some  natural  enemy 
or  parasite  will  be  discovered  which  can  be 
introduced  into  the  United  States  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  our  fruit-growers.  Professor  Berlese 
134 


Fighting   Pests   with   Insect  Allies 


of  Italy,  and  Dr.  Rch,  of  Germany,  will  attempt 
the  introduction  into  Europe  of  some  of  the 
parasites  of  injurious  insects  which  occur  in 
the  United  States,  and  particularly  those  of 
the  woolly  root-louse  of  the  apple,  known  in 
Europe  as  the  "American  blight" — one  of  the 
few  injurious  insects  which  probably  went  to 
Europe  from  this  country,  and  which  in  the 
United  States  is  not  so  injurious  as  it  is  in 
Europe. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  by  the  way,  that  while 
we  have  had  most  of  our  Aery  injurious  insects 
from  Europe,  American  insects,  when  acciden- 
tally introduced  into  Europe,  do  not  seem  to 
thrive.  The  insect  just  mentioned,  and  the 
famous  grape-vine  Phylloxera,  a  creature  which 
caused  France  a  greater  economic  loss  than  the 
enormous  indemnity  which  she  had  to  pay  to 
Germany  after  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  are 
practically  the  only  American  insects  with 
which  we  have  been  able  to  repay  Europe  for 
the  insects  which  she  has  sent  us.  Climatic 
differences,  no  doubt,  account  for  this  strange 
fact,  and  our  longer  and  wanner  summers  are 
the  principal  factor. 

It  is  not  alone  the  parasitic  and  preda 
insects  which  are  beneficial.  A  new  industry 
has  been  brought  into  the  United  States  during 
the  past  two  years  by  the  introduction  and 
acclimatization  of  the  little  insect  which  ferti- 
lizes the  Smyrna  fig  in  Mediterranean  countries. 
The  dried-fig  industry  in  this  country  has  never 
135 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

amounted  to  anything.  The  Smyrna  fig  has 
controlled  the  dried-fig  markets  of  the  world, 
but  in  California  the  Smyrna  fig  has  never  held 
its  fruit,  the  young  figs  dropping  from  the  trees 
without  ripening.  It  was  found  that  in  Mediter- 
ranean regions  a  little  insect,  known  as  the 
Blastophaga,  fertilizes  the  flowers  of  the  Smyrna 
fig  with  pollen  from  the  wild  fig  which  it  in- 
habits. The  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  in  the  spring  of  1899  imported 
successfully  some  of  these  insects  through  one 
of  its  travelling  agents,  Mr.  W.  T.  Swingle,  and 
the  insect  was  successfully  established  at 
Fresno  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  A  far- 
sighted  fruit-grower,  Mr.  George  C.  Roeding, 
of  Fresno,  had  planted  some  years  previously 
an  orchard  of  5,000  Smyrna  fig  trees  and  wild 
fig  trees,  and  his  place  was  the  one  chosen  for 
the  successful  experiment.  The  little  insect 
multiplied  with  astonishing  rapidity,  was  carried 
successfully  through  the  winter  of  1899-  1900, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1900  was  present  in  such 
great  numbers  that  it  fertilized  thousands  of 
figs,  and  fifteen  tons  of  them  ripened.  When 
these  figs  were  dried  and  packed  it  was  discovered 
that  they  were  superior  to  the  best  imported  figs. 
They  contained  more  sugar  and  were  of  a  finer 
flavor  than  those  brought  from  Smyrna  and 
Algeria.  The  Blastophaga  has  come  to  stay, 
and  the  prospects  for  a  new  and  important 
industry  are  assured. 

With   all   these   experiments   the   criticism   is 
136 


Fighting   Pests  with    Insect  Alii 

constantly  made  thai  unwittingly  new  and 
ious  enemies  to  agriculture  may  be  introduced. 
The    unfortunate    introduction    of    the    English 

sparrow  into  this  country  is  mentioned,  and 
the  equally  unfortunate  introduction  of  tin- 
East  Indian  mongoose  into  the  West  Indies  as 
well.  The  fear  is  expressed  that  the  beneficial 
parasitic  insects,  after  they  have  destroyed  the 
injurious  insects,  will  either  themselves  attack 
valuable  crops  or  do  something  else  of  an  equally 
harmful  nature.  But  there  is  no  reason  for  such 
alarm.  The  English  sparrow  feeds  on  all  sorts 
of  things,  and  the  East  Indian  mongoose,  while 
it  was  introduced  into  Jamaica  to  kill  snakes, 
was  found,  too  late,  to  be  also  a  very  general 
feeder.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  after  the  snakes 
were  destroyed,  and  even  before,  it  attacked 
young  pigs,  kids,  lambs,  calves,  puppies,  and 
kittens,  and  also  destroyed  bananas,  pine- 
apples, corn,  sweet  potatoes,  cocoanuts,  peas, 
sugar  corn,  meat,  and  salt  provisions  and  fish. 
But  with  the  parasitic  and  predatory  insects 
the  food  habits  are  definite  and  fixed.  They 
can  live  on  nothing  but  their  natural  \^"^\. 
and  in  its  absence  they  die.  The  .Australian 
ladybird  originally  imported,  for  example,  will 
feed  upon  nothing  but  scale  insects  of  a  j 'ar- 
ticular genus,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  as  soon 
as  the  fluted  scales  became  scarce  the  California 
officials  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  keeping 
the  little  beetles  alive,  and  were  actually 
obliged  to  cultivate  for  food  the  very  u 
137 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

which  they  were  formerly  so  anxious  to  wipe 
out  of  existence  !  With  the  Scutellista  parasite 
the  same  fact  holds.  The  fly  itself  does  not  feed, 
and  its  young  feed  only  upon  certain  scale 
insects,   and  so  with  all  the  rest. 

All  of  these  experiments  are  being  carried 
on  by  men  learned  in  the  ways  of  insects,  and 
only  beneficial  results,  or  at  the  very  least 
negative  ones,  can  follow.  And  even  where  only 
one  such  experiment  out  of  a  hundred  is 
successful,  what  a  saving  it  will  mean  ! 

"We  do  not  expect  the  time  to  come  when 
the  farmer,  finding  Hessian  fly  in  his  wheat, 
will  have  only  to  telegraph  the  nearest  experi- 
ment station,  "Send  at  once  two  dozen  first- 
class  parasites;"  but  in  many  cases,  and  with  a 
number  of  different  kinds  of  injurious  insects, 
especially  those  introduced  from  foreign  countries, 
it  is  probable  that  we  can  gain  much  relief  by  the 
introduction  of  their  natural  enemies  from  their 
original  home. 


138 


THE    STRANGE    STORY    OF    THE 
FLOWERS 

George  Iles 

[From  "The  Wild  Flowers  of  America,"  copyright  by 
3-.  H.  Buek  &.Co.,  New  York,  1894,  by  their  kind  permission. 
The  American  edition  is  out  of  print:  the  Canadian  edition, 
"Wild  Flowers  of  Canada,"  is  published  by  Graham  &  Co., 
Montreal,  Canada.  The  work  describes  and  illustrates  in 
their  natural  tints  nearly  three  hundred  beautiful  flowers.] 

Imagine  a  Venetian  doge,  a  French  crusader, 
a  courtier  of  the  time  of  the  second  Charles, 
an  Ojibway  chief,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  formal  black  of  evening  dress, 
and  how  much  each  of  them  would  lose  !  Where 
there  is  beauty,  strength  or  dignity,  dress  can 
heighten  it;  where  all  these  are  lacking,  their 
absence  is  kept  out  of  mind  by  raiment  in  itself 
worthy  to  be  admired.  If  dress  artificial  has 
told  for  much  in  the  history  of  human-kind, 
dress  natural  has  told  for  yet  more  in  the  lesser 
world  of  plant  and  insect  life.  In  some  d 
the  tiny  folk  that  reign  in  the  air,  like  ourselves, 
are  drawn  by  grace  of  form,  by  charm  of  colour; 
of  elaborate  display  of  their  attractions  moths, 
butterflies  and  beetles  are  just  as  fond  as  any 
belles  of  the  ball-room.  Now  let  us  bear  in 
mind  that  of  all  the  creatures  that  share  the 
earth  with  man.  the  one  that  stands  next  to 
139 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

him  in  intelligence  is  neither  a  t)iped  nor  a 
quadruped,  but  that  king  of  the  insect  tribe, 
the  ant,  which  can  be  a  herdsman  and  ware- 
house-keeper, an  engineer  and  builder,  an 
explorer  •  and  a  general.  With  all  his  varied 
powers  the  ant  lacks  a  peculiarity  in  his  costume 
which  has  denied  him  enlistment  in  a  task  of 
revolution  in  which  creatures  far  his  inferiors 
have  been  able  to  change  the  face  of  the  earth. 
And  the  marvel  of  this  peculiarity  of  garb 
which  has  meant  so  much,  is  that  it  consists 
in  no  detail  of  graceful  outline,  or  beauty  of 
tint,  but  solely  in  the  minor  matter  of  texture. 
The  ant,  warrior  that  he  is,  wears  smooth  and 
shining  armour;  the  bee,  the  moth  and  the 
butterfly  are  clad  in  downy  vesture,  and  simply 
because  thus  enabled  to  catch  dust  on  their 
clothes  these  insects,  as  weavers  of  the  web  of 
life,  have  counted  for  immensely  more  than 
the  ant  with  all  his  brains  and  character.  To 
understand  the  mighty  train  of  consequences 
set  in  motion  by  this  mere  shagginess  of  coat, 
let  us  remember  that,  like  a  human  babe,  every 
flowering  plant  has  two  parents.  These  two 
parents,  though  a  county's  breadth  divide 
them,  are  wedded  the  instant  that  pollen  from 
the  anther  of  one  of  them  meets  the  stigma  of 
the  other.  Many  flowers  find  their  mates  upon 
their  own  stem;  but,  as  in  the  races  of  animals, 
too  close  intermarriage  is  hurtful,  and  union 
with  a  distant  stock  promotes  both  health  and 
vigor.  Hence  the  great  gain  which  has  come 
140 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

to  plants  by  engaging  the  wind  as  their  match- 
maker— as  every  summer  shows  us  in  its  pollen- 
laden  air,  the  oaks,  the  pines,  the  cottonwoods, 
and  a  host  of  other  plants  commit  to  the  breeze 
the  winged  atoms  charged  with  the  continuance 
of  their  kind.  Nevertheless,  long  as  the  wind 
has  been  employed  at  this  work,  it  has  not  yet 
learned  to  do  it  well;  nearly  all  the  pollen  en- 
trusted to  it  is  wasted,  and  this  while  its  pro- 
duction draws  severely  upon  the  strength  of  a 
plant.  As  good  fortune  will  have  it,  a 
many  flowers  close  to  their  pollen  yield  an  ample 
supply  of  nectar:  a  food  esteemed  delicious  by 
the  whole  round  of  insects,  winged  and  wing- 
less. While  ants  might  sip  this  nectar  of 
without  plants  being  any  the  belter  or  the  w<  >rse; 
a  very  different  result  has  followed  upon  the  visits 
of  bees,  wasps,  and  other  hairy-coated  callers. 
These,  as  they  devour  nectar,  dust  themselves 
with  the  pollen  near  by.  Yellowed  or  whil 
with  this  freightage,  moth  and  butterfly,  as 
they  sail  through  the  air,  know  not  that  they 
are  publishing  the  banns  of  marriage  between 
two  blossoms  acres  or,  it  may  lie,  miles  apart. 
Yet  so  it  is.  Alighting  on  a  new  flower  the 
insect  rubs  a  pollen  grain  on  a  stigma  ready 
to  receive  it,  and  lo  !  the  rites  of  matrimony 
are  solemnized  then  and  there.  Unwittingly 
the  little  visitor  has  wrought  a  task  bigger 
with  fate  than  many  an  act  loudly  trumpeted 
among  the  mightiest  deeds  of  men!  On  the 
threshold  of  a  Lady's  Slipper  a  bee  may  often  be 
141 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

detected  in  the  act  of  entrance.  In  the  Sage- 
flower  he  finds  an  anther  of  the  stamen  which, 
pivoted  on  its  spring,  dusts  him  even  more 
effectually. 

Bountifully  to  spread  a  table  is  much,  but 
not  enough,  for  without  invitation  how  can 
hospitality  be  dispensed  ?    To  the  feast  of  nectar 


Sage-flower  and  Bee 


the  blossoms  join  their  bidding;  and  those  most 
conspicuously  borne  and  massed,  gayest  of 
hue,  richest  in  odor,  secure  most  guests,  and 
are  therefore  most  likely  to  transmit  to  their 
kind  their  own  excellences  as  hosts  and  enter- 
tainers. Thus  all  the  glories  of  the  blossoms 
have  arisen  in  doing  useful  work;  their  beauty 
is  not  mere  ornament,  but  the  sign  and  token 
of  duty  well  performed.  Our  opportunity  to 
admire  the  radiancy  and  perfume  of  a  jessamine 
142 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flow 

or  a  pond-lily  is  due  to  the  previous  admir 
of  uncounted  winged  attendants.  If  a  winsome 
maid  adorns  herself  with  a  wreath  from  the 
garden,  and  carries  a  posy  gathered  at  the 
brookside,  it  is  for  the  second  time  that  th<  ir 
charms  are  impressed  into  service;  for  the 
flowers'  own  ends  of  attraction  all  their  scent 
and  loveliness  were  called  into  being  long  before. 

Let  us  put  flowers  of  the  blue  flag  beside  those 
of  the  maple,  and  we  shall  have  a  fair  contrast 
between  the  brilliancy  of  blossoms  whose  mar- 
rier  has  been  an  insect,  and  the  dingincss  of 
flowers  indebted  to  the  services  of  the  wind. 
Can  it  be  that  both  kinds  of  flowers  are  desc\ 
from  forms  resembling  each  other  in  want  of 
grace  and  colour?  Such,  indeed,  is  the  truth. 
But  how,  as  the  generations  of  the  fli 
succeeded  one  another,  did  differences  so  strik- 
ing come  about?  In  our  rambles  afield  let  us 
seek  a  clue  to  the  mystery.  It  is  late  in  spring- 
time, and  near  the  border  of  a  bit  of  swamp 
we  notice  a  clump  of  violets:  they  are  pale  of 
hue,  and  every  stalk  of  them  rises  to  an  almost 
weedy  height. 

Twenty  paces  away,  on  a  knoll  of  dry  ground, 
we   find  more   violets,    but   these    are   in   much 
deeper  tints  of  azure    and   yellow,    while   their 
stalks   are   scarcely   more    than    half   as    tall    as 
their  brethren  near  the  swamp.     Six  week 
by.    This  time  we  walk  to  a  we-od-lot  clos< 
brimming  pond.     At  its  edge  are  more  \\ 
score  wild-rose   bushes.      Un   the    very    fir 
143 


Masterpieces   of   Science 


them  we  see  that  some  of  the  blossoms  are  a 
light  pink,   others  a  pink  so  deep  as  to  seem 


dashed  with  vivid  red.    And  while  a  flower  here 

and  there  is  decidedly  larger  and  more  vigorous 

144 


The   Strange   Story   of  the   Flowers 

than  its  fellows,  a  few  of  the  blossoms  are 
undersized  and  puny:  the  tide  of  life  Hows  high 
and  merrily  in  a  fortunate  rose  or  two,  it  seems 
to  ebb  and  falter  by  the  time  it  reaches  one  or 
two  of  their  unhappy  mates.  As  we  search 
bush  after  bush  we  are  at  last  repaid  for  sundry 
scratches  from  their  thorns  by  securing  a  double 
rose,  a  "sport,"  as  the  gardener  would  call  it. 
And  in  the  broad  meadow  between  us  and  home 
we  well  know  that  for  the  quest  we  can  have 
not  only  four-leaved  clovers,  but  perchance  a 
handful  of  five  and  six-leaved  prizes.  The  secret 
is  out.  Flowers  and  leaves  are  not  cast  like 
bullets  in  rigid  moulds,  but  differ  from  their 
parents  much  as  children  do.  Usually  the  differ- 
ence is  slight,  at  times  it  is  as  marked  as  in  our 
double  rose.  Whenever  the  change  in  a  flower 
is  for  the  worse,  as  in  the  sickly  violets  and 
roses  we  have  observed,  that  particular  change 
ends  there — with  death.  But  when  the  change 
makes  a  healthy  flower  a  little  more  attractive 
to  its  insect  ministers,  it  will  naturally  be  chosen 
by  them  for  service,  and  these  choosings,  kept 
up  year  after  year,  and  century  upon  century, 
have  at  last  accomplished  much  the  same  result 
as  if  the  moth,  the  bee,  and  the  rest  of  them 
had  been  given  power  to  create  blossoms  of 
the  most  welcome  forms,  the  most  alluring 
tints,   the  most   bewitching   perfumes. 

In  farther  jaunts  afield  we  shall  discover  yet 
more.      It  is  May,   and  a  heavy  rainstorm   has 
caused  the  petals  of  a  trillium  tu  forget  them- 
145 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

selves  and  return  to  their  primitive  hue  of  leafy- 
green.  A  month  later  we  come  upon  a  butter- 
cup, one  of  whose  sepals  has  grown  out  as  a 
small  but  perfect  leaf.  Later  still  in  summer 
we  find  a  rose  in  the  same  surprising  case, 
while  not  far  off  is  a  columbine  bearing  pollen 
on  its  spurs  instead  of  its  anthers.  What  family 
tie  is  betrayed  in  all  this  ?  No  other  than  that 
sepals,  petals,  anthers  and  pistils  are  but  leaves 
in  disguise,  and  that  we  have  detected  nature 
returning  to  the  form  from  which  ages  ago  she 
began  to  transmute  the  parts  of  flowers  in  all 
their  teeming  diversity.  The  leaf  is  the  parent 
not  only  of  all  these  but  of  delicate  tendrils, 
which  save  a  vine  the  cost  of  building  a  stem 
stout  enough  to  lift  it  to  open  air  and  sunshine. 
However  thoroughly,  or  however  long,  a  habit 
may  be  impressed  upon  a  part  of  a  plant,  it  may 
on  occasion  relapse  into  a  habit  older  still, 
resume  a  shape  all  but  forgotten,  and  thus  tell 
a  story  of  its  past  that  otherwise  might  remain 
forever  unsuspected.  Thus  it  is  with  the  some- 
what rare  "sport"  that  gives  us  a  morning 
glory  or  a  harebell  in  its  primitive  form  of 
unjoined  petals.  The  bell  form  of  these  and 
similar  flowers  has  established  itself  by  being 
much  more  effective  than  the  original  shape 
in  dusting  insect  servitors  with  pollen.  Not  only 
the  forms  of  flowers  but  their  massing  has  been 
determined  by  insect  preferences;  a  wide  pro- 
fusion of  blossoms  grow  in  spikes,  umbels, 
racemes  and  other  clusters,  all  economizing 
146 


The  Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

the  time  of  winged  allies,  and  attracting  their 

attention  from  afar  as  scattered  blossoms  would 
fail  to  do.  Besides  this  massing,  we  have  union 
more  intimate  still  as  in  the  dandelion,  the  sun- 
flower and  the  marigold.  These  and  their  fellow 
composites  each  seem  an  individual;  a  penknife 
discloses  each  of  them  to  be  an  aggregate  of 
blossoms.  So  gainful  has  this  kind  of  co-opera- 
tion proved  that  composites  arc  now  dominant 
among  plants  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
As  to  how  composites  grew  before  they  learned 
that  union  is  strength,  a  hint  is  dropped  in  the 
"sport"  of  the  daisy  known  as  "the  hen  and 
chickens,''  where  perhaps  as  many  as  a  dozen 
florets,  each  on  a  stalk  of  its  own,  ray  out  from 
a  mother  flower. 

While  for  the  most  part  insects  have  been 
mere  choosers  from  among  various  styles  of 
architecture  set  before  them  by  plants,  they 
have  sometimes  risen  to  the  dignity  of  builders 
on  their  own  account,  and  without  ever  knowing 
it.  The  buttress  of  the  larkspur  has  sprung  f<  »rth 
in  response  to  the  pressure  of  one  bee's  weight 
after  another,  and  many  a  like  structure  has 
had  the  very  same  origin, — or  shall  we  say, 
provocation?  In  these  and  in  other  examples 
unnumbered,  culminating  in  the  marvellous 
orchids  and  their  ministers,  there  has  come 
about  the  closest  adaptation  of  flower-shape 
to  insect-form,  the  one  now  clearly  the  counter- 
part  of  the  other, 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  hospitality  of  a 
147 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

flower  is  after  all  the  hospitality  of  an  inn- 
keeper who  earns  and  requires  payment.  Vexed 
as  flowers  are  apt  to  be  by  intruders  that  con- 
sume their  stores  without  requital,  no  wonder 
that  they  present  so  ample  an  array  of  repulsion 
and  defence.  Best  of  all  is  such  a  resource  as 
that  of  the  red  clover,  which  hides  its  honey 
at  the  bottom  of  a  tube  so  deep  that  only  a 
friendly  bumblebee  can  sip  it.  Less  effective, 
but  well  worth  a  moment's  examination,  are 
the  methods  by  which  leaves'  are  oppcsed  as 
fences  for  the  discouragement  of  thieves.  Here, 
in  a  Bellwort,  is  a  perfoliate  leaf  that  encircles 
the  stem  upon  which  it  grows;  and  there  in  a 
Honeysuckle  is  a  connate  leaf  on  much  the 
same  plan,  formed  of  two  leaves,  stiff  and  strong, 
soldered  at  their  bases.  Sometimes  the  pillager 
meets  prickles  that  sting  him,  as  in  the  roses 
and  briers;  and  if  he  is  a  little  fellow  he  is  sure 
to  regard  him  with  intense  disgust,  a  bristly 
guard  of  wiry  hair — hence  the  commonness  of 
that  kind  of  fortification.  Against  enemies  of 
larger  growth  a  tree  or  shrub  will  often  aim 
sharp  thorns — another  piece  of  masquerade, 
for  thorns  are  but  branches  checked  in  growth, 
and  frowning  with  a  barb  in  token  of  disappoint- 
ment at  not  being  able  to  smile  in  a  blossom. 
In  every  jot  and  tittle  of  barb  and  prickle,  of 
the  glossiness  which  disheartens  or  the  gummi- 
ness  which  ensnares,  we  may  be  sure  that  equally 
with  all  the  lures  of  hue,  form  and  scent,  noth- 
ing, however  trifling  it  may  seem,  is  as  we 
148 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

find  it,  except  through  usefulness  l< 
and  approved.  In  flowers,  much  that  at 
glance  looks  like  idle  decoration,  on  closer 
scrutiny  reveals  itself  as  service  in  disguise.  In 
penetrating  these  disguises  and  many  m< 
other  phases,  the  student  of  flowers  delights  to 
busy  himself.  He  loves,  too,  to  detect  the  c<  aisin- 
ship  of  plants  through  all  the  change  of  dress 
and  habit  due  to  their  rearing  under  widely 
different  skies  and  nurture,  to  their  being  sur- 
rounded by  strangely  contrasted  foes  and  friends. 
Often  he  can  link  two  plants  together  only  by 
going  into  partnership  with  a  student  of  the 
rocks,  by  turning  back  the  records  of  the  earth 
until  he  comes  upon  a  flower  long  extinct,  a 
plant  which  ages  ago  found  the  struggl 
life  too  severe  for  it.  He  ever  takes  care  to  ob- 
serve his  flowers  accurately  and  fully,  but  chiefly 
that  he  may  rise  from  observation  to  explana- 
tion, from  bare  facts  to  their  causes,  from  de- 
claring What,  to  understanding,  Whence  and 
How. 

One  of  the  stock  resources  of  novelists,  now 
somewhat  out  of  date,  was  the  inn-keeper  who 
beamed  in   welcome   of  his   guest,    grasped   his 
hand  in   gladness,   and  loaded  a  table  for  him 
in    tempting    array,    and    all    with    intent    that 
later  in  the  day   (or  night)   he  might   the 
securely  plunge  a  dagger  into  his  victim's  heart 
— if,  indeed,  he  had  not  already  improv< 
opportunity    to    offer    to    that    victim's    lips    a 
poisoned  cup.      This  imagined  treachery   I 
149 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

well  have  been  suggested  by  the  behaviour  of 
certain  alluring  plants  that  so  far  from  repelling 
thieves,  or  discouraging  pillagers,  open  their 
arms  to  all  comers — with  purpose  of  the  deadliest. 
Of  these  betrayers  the  chief  is  the  round- 
leaved  sun-dew,  which  plies  its  nefarious  vo- 
cation all  the  way  from  Labrador  to  Florida. 
Its  favourite  site  is  a  peat-bog  or  a  bit  of  swampy 
low-land,  where  in  July  and  August  we  can 
see  its  pretty  little  white  blossoms  beckoning 
to  wayfaring  flies  and  moths  their  token  of 
good  cheer !  Circling  the  flower-stalk,  in  rosette 
fashion,  are  a  dozen  or  more  round  leaves,  each 
of  them  wearing  scores  of  glands,  very  like  little 
pins,  a  drop  of  gum  glistening  on  each  and  every 
pin  by  way  of  head.  This  appetizing  gum  is  no 
other  than  a  fatal  stick-fast,  the  raying  pins 
closing  in  its  aid  the  more  certainly  to  secure  a 
hapless  prisoner.  Soon  his  prison-house  becomes 
a  stomach  for  his  absorption.  Its  duty  of  diges- 
tion done,  the  leaf  in  all  seeming  guilessness  once 
more  expands  itself  for  the  enticement  of  a  dupe. 
To  see  how  much  the  sun-dew  must  depend  upon 
its  meal  of  insects  we  have  only  to  pull  it  up  from 
the  ground.  A  touch  suffices — it  has  just  root 
enough  to  drink  by;  the  soil  in  which  it  makes, 
and  perhaps  has  been  obliged  to  make,  its  home 
has  nothing  else  but  drink  to  give  it. 

Less  accomplished  in  its  task  of  assassination 

is  the  common    butterwort  to  be  found  on    wet 

rocks  in  scattered  districts  of  Canada  and  the 

States  adjoining  Canada.     Surrounding  its  pretty 

150 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

violet  flowers,  of  funnel  shape,  are  gummy  leaves 
which  close  upon  their  all  too  trusting  guests, 
but  with  less  expertness  than  the  sun-dew's. 
The  butterwort  is  but  a  'prentice  hand  in  the 
art  of  murder,  and  its  intended  victims  often 
manage  to  get  away  from  it.  Built  on  a  wry 
different  model  is  the  bladderwort,  busy  in  stag- 
nant ponds  near  the  sea  coast  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Texas.  Its  little  white  spongy  bladders, 
about  a  tenth  of  an  inch  across,  encircle  the 
flowering  stem  by  scores.  From  each  bladder  a 
bunch  of  twelve  or  fifteen  hairy  prongs  protrude, 
giving  the  structure  no  slight  resemblance  to  an 
insect  form.  These  prongs  hide  a  valve  which, 
as  many  an  unhappy  little  swimmer  can  attest, 
opens  inward  easily  enough,  but  opens  outward 
never.  As  in  the  case  of  its  cousinry  a-land,  the 
bladderwort  at  its  leisure  dines  upon  its  prey. 

In  marshy  places  near  the  mouth  of  the  I 
Fear  River,  in  the  vicinity  of  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  grows  the  Venus'  fly-trap,  most  wonder- 
ful of  all  the  death-dealers  of  vegetation.  Like 
much  else  in  nature's  handiwork  this  plant  might 
well  have  given  inventors  a  hint  worth  taking. 
The  hairy  fringes  of  its  leaves  are  as  responsive  to 
a  touch  from  moth  or  fly  as  the  sensitive  plant 
itself.  And  he  must  be  either  a  very  small  or  a 
particularly  sturdy  little  captive  that  can  escape 
through  the  sharp  opposed  teeth  of  its  formidable 
snare.  It  is  one  of  the  unexplained  puzzles  of 
plant  life  that  the  Venus'  fly-trap,  so  marvellous 
in  its  ingenuity,  should  not  only  be  confined  to  a 
151 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

single  district,  but  should  seem  to  be  losing  its 
hold    of    even    that    small    kingdom.     Of    still 


Venus'  Fly  Trap — Open 
with  a  Welcome 


Shut  for  Slaughter 


another  type  is  the  pitcher  plant,  or  side-saddle 

flower,  which  flaunts  its  deep  purple  petals  in 

June  in  many  a  peat-bog  from  Canada  south- 

152 


The  Strange   Story   of  the   Flowers 

ward  to  Louisiana  and  Florida.  Its  l< 
develop  themselves  into  lidded  cups,  half-filled 
with  sweetish  juice,  which  first  lures  a  fly  or  ant, 
then  makes  him  tipsy,  and  then  despatches  him. 
The  broth  resulting  is  both  meat  and  drink  to  the 
plant,  serving  as  a  store  and  reservoir  against 
times  of  drought  and  scarcity. 

Now  the  question  is,  How  came  about  this 
strange  and  somewhat  horrid  means  of  liveli- 
hood ?  How  did  plants  of  so  diverse  families 
turn  the  tables  on  the  insect  world,  and  learn  to 
eat  instead  of  being  themselves  devoured?  A 
beginner  in  the  builder's  art  finds  it  much  more 
gainful  to  examine  the  masonry  of  foundations, 
the  rearing  of  walls,  the  placing  of  girders  and 
joists,  the  springing  of  arches  and  buttresses,  than 
to  look  at  a  cathedral,  a  courthouse,  or  a  bank, 
finished  and  in  service.  In  like  manner  a  student 
of  insect-eating  plants  tries  to  find  their  leaves 
in  the  making,  in  all  the  various  stages  which 
bridge  their  common  forms  with  the  shapes  they 
assume  when  fully  armed  and  busy.  Availing 
himself  of  the  relapses  into  old  habits  which 
plants  occasionally  exhibit  under  cultivation, 
Mr.  Dickson  has  taught  us  much  regarding  the 
way  the  pitcher  plant  of  Australia,  the  i  ephalotus, 
has  come  to  be  what  it  is.  He  has  arranged  in  a 
connected  scries  all  the  forms  of  its  leaf  from  that 
of  a  normal  leaf  with  a  mere  dimple  in  it.  to  the 
deeply  pouched  and  lidded  pitcher  ready  for 
deceitful  hospitalities.  And  similar  transfor- 
mations have  without  doubt  taken  place  in  the 
153 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

pitcher  plants  of  America.  Observers  in  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  have  noted  two  plants  Ror- 
idula  dentata  and  Biblys  gigantea,  which  are 
evidently  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  sun- 
dews, and  may  be  expected  in  the  fulness  of  years 
to  be  their  equal  partners  in  crime.  But  why 
need  we  wander  so  far  as  South  Africa  to  find 
the  germs  of  this  strange  rapacity  when  we  can 
see  at  home  a  full  dozen  species  of  catch-fly, 
sedums,  primulas,  and  geraniums  pouring  out 
glutinous  juices  in  which  insects  are  entangled? 
Let  stress  of  hunger,  long  continued,  force  any 
of  these  to  turn  its  attention  to  the  dietary  thus 
proffered,  and  how  soon  might  not  the  plant 
find  in  felony  the  sustenance  refused  to  honest 
toil? 

But  after  all  the  plants  that  have  meat  for 
dinner  are  only  a  few.  The  greater  part  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom  draws  its  supplies  from  the 
air  and  the  soil.  Those  plants,  and  they  are 
many,  that  derive  their  chief  nourishment  from 
the  atmosphere  have  a  decidedly  thin  diet. 
Which  of  us  would  thrive  on  milk  at  the  rate  of 
a  pint  to  five  hogsheads  of  water?  Such  is  the 
proportion  in  which  air  contains  carbonic  acid 
gas,  the  main  source  of  strength  for  many  thou- 
sands of  trees,  shrubs,  and  other  plants.  No 
wonder  that  they  array  themselves  in  so  broad  an 
expanse  of  leafage.  An  elm  with  a  spread  of 
seventy  feet  is  swaying  in  the  summer  breeze 
at  least  five  acres  of  foliage  as  its  lungs  and 
stomach.  Beyond  the  shade  of  elms  and  maples 
154 


The   Strange   Story   of   the   Flowers 

let  ns  stmll  past  yonder  stretch  of  pasture  and 
we  shall  noti<  e  how  the  grass  in  patches  here  and 
there  deepens  into  green  of  the-  richest— a  plain 
token  of  moisture  in  the  hollows— a  blessing  in- 
deed in  this  dry  weather.  In  the  far  W< 
Northwest  the  buffalo  grass  has  often  to  contend 
with    drought    for  months   togeth  hat   it 

has  learned  to  strike  deep  in  quest  of  water  to 
quench  its  thirst.  It  is  a  by-word  among  the 
ranchmen  that  the  roots  ,r  through  the 

earth  and  arc  clinched  as  they  sprout  from  the 
ground  in  China,  joking  apart,  they  haw 
found  sixty-eight  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
prairie,  and  often  in  especially  dry  seasons  cattle 
would  perish  were  not  these  faithful  little  well- 
diggers  and  pumpers  constantly  at  worl 
them.  In  the  river  valleys  of  Arizona  although 
the  air  is  dry  the  subsoil  water  is  near  the  ecu 
of  the  ground.  Here  flourishes  the  mesquil 
Prosotis  julifiora,  with  a  tale  to  tell  well  worth 
knowing.  When  a  mesquit  seems  stunted,  it  is 
because  its  strength  is  withdrawn  for  the  task 
of  delving  to  find  water;  where  a  tree  -rows  tall 
with  goodly  branches,  it  betokens  success  in 
reaching  moisture  close  at  hand.  Thus  in 
shrewdly  reading  7 he  landscape  a  prospector  can 
choose  the  spot  where  with  least  trouble  he  can 
sink  his  well.  And  plants  discover  provender  in 
the  soil  as  well  as  drink.  Nearer  home  than 
Arizona  we  have  only  t<>  dislodge  a  beach  pea 
from  the  ground  to  see  how  far  in  search  <  >f  food 
its  roots  have  dug  amid  1  ►arren  st<  >nes  and  j  -el  >1  >les, 
155 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

Often  one  finds  a  plant  hardly  a  foot  high  with 
roots  extending  eight  feet  from  its  stem. 

And  beyond  the  beaches  where  the  beach  peas 
dig  so  diligently  are  the  seaweeds — with  a  talent 
for  picking  and  choosing  all  their  own.  Dr. 
Julius  Sachs,  a  leading  German  botanist,  believes 
that  the  parts  of  plants  owe  their  form,  as  crys- 
tals do,  to  their  peculiarities  of  substance;  that 
just  as  salt  crystallizes  in  one  shape  and  sugar 
in  another,  so  a  seaweed  or  a  tulip  is  moulded  by 
the  character  of  its  juices.  Something  certainly 
of  the  crystal's  faculty  for  picking  out  particles 
akin  to  itself,  and  building  with  them,  is  shown 
by  the  kelp  which  attracts  from  the  ocean  both 
iodine  and  bromine — often  dissolved  though  they 
are  in  a  million  times  their  bulk  of  sea  water. 
This  trait  of  choosing  this  or  that  dish  from  the 
feast  afforded  by  sea  or  soil  or  air  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  seaweeds;  every  plant  displays  it.  Beech 
trees  love  to  grow  on  limestone  and  thus  declare 
to  the  explorer  the  limestone  ridge  he  seeks.  In 
the  Horn  silver  mine,  of  Utah,  the  zinc  mingled 
with  the  silver  ore  is  betrayed  by  the  abundance 
of  the  zinc  violet,  a  delicate  and  beautiful  cousin 
of  the  pansy.  In  Germany  this  little  flower  is 
admittedly  a  signal  of  zinc  in  the  earth,  and  zinc 
is  found  in  its  juices.  The  late  Mr.  William 
Dorn,  of  South  Carolina,  had  faith  in  a  bush,  of 
unrecorded  name,  as  betokening  gold-bearing 
veins  beneath  it.  That  his  faith  was  not  without 
foundation  is  proved  by  the  large  fortune  he  won 
as  a  gold  miner  in  the  Blue  Ridge  country — his 
156 


The  Strange   Story   of  the   Flowers 

guide  the  bush  aforesaid.  Mr.  Rossiter  W.  Ray- 
mond, the  eminent  mining  engineer  of  New  York, 
has  given  some  attention  to  this  matter  of  "in- 
dicative plants."  He  is  of  the  opinion  that  its 
unwritten  lore  among  practical  miners,  pros- 
pectors, hunters,  and  Indians  is  well  worth  sift- 
ing. Their  observations,  often  faulty,  may 
occasionally  be  sound  and  valuable  enough  richly 
to  repay  the  trouble  of  separating  truth  from 
error.  When  we  see  how  important  as  signs  of 
water  many  plants  can  be,  why  may  we  not 
find  other  plants  denoting  the  minerals  which 
they  especially  relish  as  food  or  condiment  ? 

Of  more  account  than  gold  or  silver  are  the 
harvests  of  wheat  and  corn  that  ripen  in  our 
fields.  There  the  special  appetites  of  plants  have 
much  more  than  merely  curious  interest  for  the 
farmer.  He  knows  full  well  that  his  land  is  but 
a  larder  which  serves  him  best  when  not  part  but 
all  its  stores  are  in  demand.  Hence  his  crop 
"rotation,"  his  succession  of  wheat  to  clover,  of 
grass  to  both.  Were  he  to  grow  barley  every 
year  he  would  soon  find  his  soil  bared  of  all  the 
food  that  barley  asks,  while  fare  for  peas  or  clover 
stood  scarcely  broached.  If  he  insists  on  plant- 
ing barley  always,  then  he  must  perforce  restore 
to  the  land  the  food  for  barley  constantly  with- 
drawn. 

A    plant     may     diligently     find     food     and 

drink,  pour  forth  delicious  nectar,   array  itself 

with  flowers  as  gayly  as  it  can,  and  still  behold 

its  work  unfinished.     Its  seed  may  be  produced 

157 


Masterpieces   of   Science 


in  plenty,  and  although  as  far  as  that  goes  it  is 
well,  it  is  not  enough.  Of  what  avail  is  all  this 
seed  if  it  falls  as  it  ripens  upon  soil  already  over- 
crowded with  its  kind?  Hence  the  vigorous 
emigration  policy  to  be  observed  in  plants  of 
every  name.     Hence  the  fluffy  sails  set  to  catch 

the  passing  breeze  by 
the  dandelion,  the 
thistle  and  by  many 
more,  including  the 
southern  plant  of 
snowy  wealth  whose 
wings  are  cotton. 
With  the  same  intent 
of  seeking  new  fields 
are  the  hooks  of  the 
burdock,  the  unicorn 
plant,  and  the  bur- 
parsley  which  im- 
press as  carriers  the 
sheep  and  cattle  upon 
a  thousand  hills. 
The  Touch-me-not 
and  the  herb  Robert  adopt  a  different  plan, 
and  convert  their  seed-cases  into  pistols  for  the 
firing  of  seeds  at  as  wide  range  as  twenty  feet  or 
more.  The  maple,  the  ash,  the  hornbeam,  the 
elm  and  the  birch  have  yet  another  method  of 
escape  from  the  home  acre.  Their  seeds  are 
winged,  and  torn  off  in  a  gale  are  frequently 
borne  two  hundred  yards  away.  And  stronger 
wings  than  these  are  plied  in  the  cherry  tree's 
158 


Maple  Seed,  with  pair  of 
wings 


The   Strange   Story  of   the    Flowers 

service.  The  birds  bide  the  time  when  a  Mush 
upon  the  fruit  betrays  its  ripeness.  Then  the 
cherries  are  greedily  devoured,  and  their  seed, 
preserved  from  digestion  in  their  stony  casts 
are  borne  over  hill,  dale,  and  river  to  some  islet 
or  brookside  where  a  sprouting  cherry  plant  will 
be  free  from  the  stifling  rivalries  suffered  by  its 
parent.  Yoked  in  harness  with  sheep,  ox,  and 
bird  as  planter  is  yonder  nimble  squirrel.  We 
need  not  begrudge  him  the  store  of  nuts  he  hides. 
He  will  forget  some  of  them,  he  will  be  prevented 
by  fright  or  frost  from  nibbling  yet  more,  and  so 
without  intending  it  he  will  ensure  for  others  and 
himself  a  sure  succession  of  acornsandbutternuts. 

Very  singular  are  the  seeds  that  have  come  to 
resemble  beetles ;  among  these  may  be  mentioned 
the  seeds  of  the  castor-oil  plant  and  of  the  Iatro- 
pha.  The  pod  of  the  Biscrrula  looks  like  a 
worm,  and  a  worm  half-coiled  might  well  have 
served  as  a  model  for  the  mimicry  of  the  Scor- 
piurus  vcnniculata.  All  these  are  much  more 
likely  to  enlist  the  services  of  birds  than  if  their 
resemblances  to  insects  were  less  striking. 

Nature  elsewhere  rich  in  hints  to  the  gar- 
dener and  the  farmer  is  not  silent  here.  A 
lesson  plainly  taught  in  all  this  apparatus 
for  the  dispersal  of  seeds  is  that  the  more 
various  the  planting  the  fuller  the  harvest. 
Now  that  from  the  wheat  fields  comes  a  cry 
of  disappearing  gains,  it  is  time  to  heed  the 
story  told  in  the  unbroken  prairie  that  diversity 
in  sowing  means  wealth  in  reaping. 
159 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

In  a  field  of  growing  flax  we  can  find — some- 
what oftener  than  the  farmer  likes — a  curious 
tribe  of  plants,  the  dodders.  Their  stems  are 
thin  and  wiry,  and  their  small  white  flowers, 
globular  in  shape,  make  the  azure  blossoms  of  the 
flax  all  the  lovelier  by  contrast.  As  their  cousins 
the  morning  glories  are  to  this  day,  the  dodders 
in  their  first  estate  were  true  climbers.  Even 
now  they  begin  life  in  an  honest  kind  of  way 
with  roots  of  their  own  that  go  forth  as  roots 
should,  seeking  food  where  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
soil.  But  if  we  pull  up  one  of  these  little  club- 
shaped  roots  we  shall  see  that  it  has  gone  to 
work  feebly  and  doubtfully;  it  seems  to  have  a 
skulking  expectation  of  dinner  without  having 
to  dig  and  delve  for  it  in  the  rough  dirty  ground. 
Nor  is  this  expectation  unfounded.  Watch  the 
stem  of  a  sister  dodder  as  it  rises  from  the  earth 
day  by  day,  and  it  will  be  observed  to  clasp  a 
stalk  of  flax  very  tightly;  so  tightly  that  its 
suckers  will  absorb  the  juices  of  its  unhappy  host. 
When,  so  very  easily,  it  can  regale  itself  with  food 
ready  to  hand  why  should  it  take  the  trouble  to 
drudge  for  a  living? 

Like  many  another  pauper  demoralized  by 
being  fed  in  idleness,  the  plant  now  abandons 
honest  toil,  its  roots  from  lack  of  exercise  wither 
away,  and  for  good  and  all  it  ceases  to  claim  any 
independence  whatever.  Indeed,  so  deep  is  the 
dodder's  degradation  that  if  it  cannot  find  a  stem 
of  flax,  or  hop,  or  other  plant  whereon  to  climb 
and  thrive,  it  will  simply  shrivel  and  die  rather 
160 


The   Strange  Story   of  the   Flowers 

than  resume  habits  of  industry  so  long  renounced 
as  to  be  at  last  forgotten. 

Like  the  lowly  dodder  the  mistletoe  is  a  climber 
that  has  discovered  large  opportunities  of  theft 
in  ascending  the  stem  of  a  supporting  plant. 
On  this  continent  the  mistletoe  scales  a  wide 
variety  of  trees  and  shrubs,  preferring  poplars 
and  apple  trees,  where  these  are  to  be  had.  Its 
extremely  slender  stem,  its  meagre  leaves,  its 
small  flowers,  greenish  and  leathery,  arc  all 
eloquent  as  to  the  loss  of  strength  and  beauty 
inevitable  to  a  parasite.  Rising  as  this  singular 
plant  does  out  of  the  branches  of  another  with 
a  distinct  life  all  its  own,  it  is  no  other  than  a 
natural  graft,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  from 
the  hint  it  so  unmistakably  gives  the  first  gar- 
deners were  not  slow  to  adopt  grafts  artificial — 
among  the  resources  which  have  most  enriched 
and  diversified  both  flowers  and  fruits.  The 
dodders  and  mistletoes  rob  juices  from  the  stem 
and  branches  of  their  unfortunate  hosts;  more 
numerous  still  are  the  unbidden  guests  that 
fasten  themselves  upon  the  roots  of  their  prey. 
The  broom-rape,  a  comparatively  recent  im- 
migrant from  Europe,  lays  hold  of  the  roots  of 
thyme  in  preference  to  other  place  of  entertain- 
ment; the  Yellow  Rattle,  the  Lottsewort,  and 
many  more  attach  themselves  to  the  roots  of 
grasses — frequently  with  a  serious  curtailment  of 
crop. 

Yet  in  this  very  department  of  hers  Nature 
has  for  ages  hidden  away  what  has  been  disclosed 
161 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

within  twenty  years  as  one  of  her  least  suspected 
marvels.  It  is  no  other  than  that  certain  para- 
sites of  field  and  meadow  so  far  from  being  hurt- 
ful, are  well  worth  cultivating  for  the  good  they, 
do.  For  a  long  time  the  men  who  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  peas,  beans,  clovers,  and 
other  plants  of  the  pulse  family,  were  confronted 
with  a  riddle  they  could  not  solve.  These  plants 
all  manage  to  enrich  themselves  with  compounds 
of  nitrogen,  which  make  them  particularly  val- 
uable as  food,  and  these  compounds  often  exist  in 
a  degree  far  exceeding  the  rate  at  which  their 
nitrogen  comes  out  of  the  soil.  And  this  while 
they  have  no  direct  means  of  seizing  upon  the 
nitrogen  contained  in  its  great  reservoir — the 
atmosphere.  Upon  certain  roots  of  beans  and 
peas  it  was  noted  that  there  were  little  round 
excrescences  about  the  size  of  a  small  pin's  head. 
These  excrescences  on  examination  with  a  micro- 
scope proved  to  be  swarming  with  bacteria  of 
minute  dimensions.  Further  investigation  abund- 
antly showed  that  these  little  guests  paid  a  hand- 
some price  for  their  board  and  lodging — while 
they  subsisted  in  part  on  the  juices  of  their  host 
they  passed  into  the  bean  or  pea  certain  valuable 
compounds  of  nitrogen  which  they  built  from 
common  air.  At  the  Columbian  Exposition,  of 
1893,  one  of  the  striking  exhibits  in  the  Agri- 
cultural Building  set  this  forth  in  detail.  Vials 
were  shown  containing  these  tiny  subterranean 
aids  to  the  farmer,  and  large  photographs  showed 
in  natural  size  the  vast  increase  of  crop  due  to 
162 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

the  farmer's  taking  bacteria  into  partnership. 
To-day  these  little  organisms  are  cultivated  of 
set  purpose,  and  quest  is  being  made  for  similar 
bacteria  suitable  to  be  harnessed  in  producing 
wheat,  corn,  and  other  harvests. 

These  are  times  when  men  of  science  are  dis- 
contented with  mere  observation.  They  wish 
to  pass  from  watching  things  as  nature  pn 
them  to  putting  them  into  relations  wholly  new. 
In  1 866  DeBary,  a  close  observer  of  lichens,  felt 
confident  that  a  lichen  was  not  the  simple  growth 
it  seems,  but  a  combination  of  fungus  and 
This  opinion,  so  much  opposed  to  honoured 
tradition,  was  scouted,  but  not  for  long.  Bef<  >re 
many  months  had  passed  Stahl  took  known  algae, 
and  upon  them  sowed  a  known  fungus,  the  result 
was  a  known  lichen  !  The  fungus  turns  out  to 
be  no  other  than  a  slave-driver  that  captures 
algse  in  colonies  and  makes  them  work  for  him. 
He  is,  however,  a  slave-driver  of  an  intelligent 
his  captives  thrive  under  his  mastery,  and 
increase  more  rapidly  for  the  healthy  ex 
he  insists  that  they  shall  take. 

It  is  an  afternoon  in  August  and  the  sultry 
air  compels  us  to  take  shelter  in  a  grove  of  sway- 
ing maples.  Beneath  their  shade  every  square 
yard  of  ground  bears  a  score  of  infant  trees,  very 
few  of  them  as  much  as  a  foot  in  stature.  How 
vain  their  exj  i  e  day  enjoying  an 

ample  spread  "1"  branch  and  root,  of  rising  to  the 
sunshine  of  upper  air!     The  scene,  with  its 
quivering  rounds  of  sunlight,  set  i  itself, 

163 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

but  the  seeming  is  only  a  mask  for  war  as  unre- 
lenting as  that  of  weaponed  armies.  For  every 
ray  of  the  sunbeam,  for  every  atom  of  food,  for 
every  inch  of  standing  room,  there  is  deadly 
rivalry.  To  begin  the  fight  is  vastly  easier  than 
to  maintain  it,  and  not  one  in  a  hundred  of  these 
bantlings  will  ever  know  maturity.  We  have 
only  to  do  what  Darwin  did — count  the  plants 
that  throng  a  foot  of  sod  in  spring,  count  them 
again  in  summer,  and  at  the  summer's  end,  to 
find  how  great  the  inexorable  carnage  in  this 
unseen  combat,  how  few  its  survivors.  So  hard 
here  is  the  fight  for  a  foothold,  for  daily  bread, 
that  the  playfulness  inborn  in  every  healthy 
plant  can  peep  out  but  timidly  and  seldom.  But 
when  strife  is  exchanged  for  peace,  when  a  plant 
is  once  safely  sheltered  behind  a  garden  fence, 
then  the  struggles  of  the  battlefield  give  place 
to  the  diversions  of  the  garrison — diversions  not 
infrequently  hilarious  enough.  Now  food 
abounds  and  superabounds ;  henceforth  neither 
drought  nor  deluge  can  work  their  evil  will; 
insect  foes,  as  well  as  may  be,  are  kept  at  bay; 
there  is  room  in  plenty  instead  of  dismal  over- 
crowding. The  grateful  plant  repays  the  care 
bestowed  upon  it  by  bursting  into  a  sportiveness 
unsuspected,  and  indeed  impossible,  amidst  the 
alarms  and  frays  incessant  in  the  wilderness. 
It  departs  from  parental  habits  in  most  astonish- 
ing fashion ,  puts  forth  blossoms  of  fresh  grace  of 
form,  of  new  dyes,  of  doubled  magnitude.  The 
gardener's  opportunity  has  come.  He  can  seize 
164 


The   Strange   Story   of  the   Flowers 

upon  such  of  these  "sports"  as  he  chooses  and 
make  them  the  confirmed  habits  of  his  wards. 
Take  a  stroll  through  his  parterres  and  green- 
houses, where  side  by  side  he  shows  you  pai 
of  myriad  tints  and  the  modest  little  wild  violets 
of  kindred  to  the  pansies'  ancestral  stock.      Let 
him    contrast    for    you    roses,    asters,    tuberous 
begonias,     hollyhocks,     dahlias,     pelargoniums, 
before  cultivation  and  since.     Were  wild  flowers 
clay,  were  the  gardener  both  painter  and  sculptor, 
he  could  not  have  wrought  marvels  more  gl<  >rious 
than  these.     In  a  few  years  the  brethren  of  his 
guild  have  brought  about  a  rev<  >luti<  >n  for  which, 
if  possible  at  all  to  her,  nature  in  the  open  fields 
would  ask  long  centuries.      And   the   gardener's 
experiments  with  these  strange  children  of  his 
have    all    the    charm    of    surprise.     No    passive 
chooser  is  he   of   "sports"   of  promise,    but   an 
active  matchmaker  between  flowers  often  brought 
together  from  realms  as  far  apart  as  Frame  and 
China.     Sometimes  his  experiment  is  an  instant 
success.      Mr.  William  Paul,  a  famous  creator  of 
splendid   Hewers,   tells  us   that    at    a   time   when 
climbing  roses  were  either  white   or  yellow,   he 
thought  he  would  like  to  produce  one  of  bright 
dark  colour.      Accordingly  he   mated   the    Rose 
Athelin,  of  vivid  crimson,  with   Russelliana,  a 
hardy  climber,  and  1^,  the  fl<  >wer  he  had  imagined 
and  longed  for  stood  revealed  !     But  this  hitting 
the  mark  at  the   first   shot  is  uncommon  good 
fortune  with  the  gardener.     No  experience  with 
primrose  or  chrysanthemum  is  long  and  varied 
165 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

enough  to  tell  him  how  the  crossing  of  two  dif- 
ferent stocks  will  issue.  A  rose  which  season 
after  season  opposes  only  indifference  to  all  his 
pains  may  be  secretly  gathering  strength  for  a 
bound  beyond  its  ancestral  paths  which  will 
carry  it  much  farther  than  his  hopes,  or,  perhaps, 
his  wishes. 

Most  flowers  are  admired  for  their  own  sweet 
sake,  but  who  thinks  less  of  an  apple  or  cherry 
blossom  because  it  bears  in  its  beauty  the  promise 
of  delicious  fruit  ?  Put  a  red  Astrachan  beside 
a  sorry  crab,  a  Bartlett  pear  next  a  tough,  dimin- 
utive wild  pear  such  as  it  is  descended  from,  an 
ear  of  milky  corn  in  contrast  with  an  ear  one- 
fourth  its  size,  each  grain  of  which,  small  and 
dry,  is  wrapped  in  a  sheath  by  itself;  and  rejoice 
that  fruits  and  grains  as  well  as  flowers  can  learn 
new  lessons  and  remember  them.  At  Concord, 
Massachusetts,  in  an  honoured  old  age,  dwells  Mr. 
Ephraim  W.Bull.  In  his  garden  he  delights  to 
show  the  mother  vine  of  the  Concord  grape  which 
he  developed  from  a  native  wild  grape  planted  as 
long  ago  as  1843.  Another  "sport"  of  great 
value  was  the  nectarine,  which  was  seized  upon 
as  it  made  its  appearance  on  a  peach  bough. 
Throughout  America  are  scattered  experiment 
stations,  part  of  whose  business  it  is  to  provoke 
fresh  varieties  of  wheat,  or  corn,  or  other  useful 
plant,  and  make  permanent  such  of  them  as 
show  special  richness  of  yield ;  earliness  in  ripen- 
ing; stoutness  of  resistance  to  Jack  Frost,  or 
blight, or  insect  pests.  Suppose  that  dire  disaster 
166 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

swept  from  off  the  earth  every  cereal  used   as 
food.     Professor  Goodale,  Professor  Asa  Gray's 

successor  at  Harvard  University,  lias  so  much 
confidence  in  the  experiment  stations  of  An 
that  he  deems  them  well  able  to  repair  the  loss 
we  have  imagined;  within  fifty  years,  he  thinks, 
from  plants  now  uncultivated  the  task  could  be 
accomplished.  Among  the  men  who  have  best 
served  the  world  by  hastening  nature's  steps  in 
the  improvement  of  flowers  and  fruits,  stands 
Mr.  Vilmorin,  of  Paris.  lie  it  was  who  in  creat- 
ing the  sugar  beet  laid  the  foundation  for  one  -  >f 
the  chief  industries  of  our  time.  One  of  his 
rules  is  to  select  at  first  not  the  plant  which 
varies  most  in  the  direction  he  wishes,  but  the 
plant  that  varies  most  in  any  direction  whatever. 
From  it,  from  the  instability  of  its  very  fibres, 
its  utter  forgetfulness  of  ancestral  trad' 
he  finds  it  easiest  in  the  long  run  to  obtain  and 
to  establish  the  character  he  seeks  of  sweetness, 
or  size,  or  colour. 

Of  flowering  plants  there  are  about  110,000, 
of  these  the  farmer  and  the  gardener  between 
them  have  scarcely  tamed  and  trained  1,00c. 
"What  new  riches,  therefore,  may  we  not  expect 
from  the  culture  of  the  future?  Already  in  cer- 
tain northern  flower-pots  the  trillium,  the  blood- 
root,  the  dog's-tooth  violet,  and  the  celandine 
are  abloom  in  May;  as  June  advances,  the  wild 
violet,  the  milkweed,  tin-  wild  lily-of-the-valley, 
unfold  their  petals;  later  in  summer  the 
rose  displays  its  charms  and  breathes  its  perfume. 
167 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

All  respond  kindly  to  care,  and  were  there  more 
of  this  hospitality,  were  the  wild  roses  which 
the  botanist  calls  blanda  and  hicida,  were  the 
cardinal  flowers,  the  May  flowers,  and  many  more 
of  the  treasures  of  glen  and  meadow,  made  wel- 
come with  thoughtful  study  of  their  wants  and 
habits,  much  would  be  done  to  extend  the  wealth 
of  our  gardens.  Let  a  hepatica  be  plucked  from 
its  home  in  a  rocky  crevice  where  one  marvels 
how  it  ever  contrived  to  root  itself  and  find  sub- 
sistence. Transplant  it  to  good  soil,  give  it  a 
little  care — it  asks  none — and  it  will  thrive  as  it 
never  throve  before;  proving  once  again  that 
plants  do  not  grow  where  they  like,  but  where 
they  can.  The  Russian  columbine  rewards  its 
cultivator  with  a  wealth  of  blossoms  that  plainly 
say  how  much  it  rejoices  in  his  nurture  of  it,  in 
its  escape  from  the  frost  and  tempest  that  have 
assailed  it  for  so  many  generations. 

But  here  we  must  be  content  to  take  a  leaf 
out  of  nature's  book,  and  look  for  small  results 
unless  our  experiments  are  broadly  planned. 
It  is  in  great  nurseries  and  gardens,  not  in  little 
door-yards  that  "sports"  are  likely  to  arise, 
and  to  meet  the  skill  which  can  confirm  them  as 
new  varieties. 

Japan  has  much  to  teach  us  with  regard  to 
flowers:  nowhere  else  on  earth  are  they  so  sedu- 
lously cultivated,  or  so  faithfully  studied  in  all 
their  changeful  beauty.  Perhaps  the  most 
striking  revelation  of  the  Japanese  gardener  is 
his  treatment  of  flowering  shrubs  and  flowering 
168 


The   Strange   Story  of  the   Flowers 

trees  disposed  in  masses.  Happy  the 
Tokio  who  sees  in  springtime  the  cherry  blossoms 
ready  to  lend  their  witchery  to  the  Empi 
reception!  Much  is  done  to  extend  the  reign 
of  beauty  in  a  garden  when  it  is  fitly  bordered 
with  berry-bearers.  Rows  of  mountain  ash. 
snow-berry,  and  hawthorn  trees  give  colour  just 
when  colour  is  most  effective,  at  the  time  when 
most  flowers  are  past  and  gone. 

In  the  practical  bit  of  ground  where  the  ki  I 
garden  meets  the  flowers,  Japan  has  long  since 
enlarged  its  bill  of  fare  with  the  tul  >er  <  if  a  c<  »usin 
of  our  common  hedge  nettle,  with  the  roots  of 
the  large  burdock,  commoner  still.  In  Florida, 
the  calla  lily  has  use  as  well  as  beauty;  it  is  cul- 
tivated for  its  potato-like  tul  his. 

Much  as  the  study  of  flowers  heightens  our 
interest  in  them,  their  first,  their  chief  enduring 
charm  consists  in  their  simple  beauty— their 
infinitely  varied  grace  of  form,  their  exhaust  less 
wealth  of  changeful  tints.  Off  we  go  with 
delight  from  desk  and  book  to  a  breezy  field, 
a  wimpling  brook,  a  quiet  pond  in  woodland 
shade.  A  dozen  rambles  from  May  t>>  October 
will  show  us  all  the  floral  procession,  which,  be- 
ginning with  the  trilliums  and  the  violets,  ends 
at  the  approach  of  frost  with  the  golden-rod  and 
aster.  But  who  ever  formed  an  engaging  ac- 
quaintance without  wishing  it  might  become  a 
close  friendship  ?  Never  yet  did  the  observant 
culler  of  bloodroot  and  columbine  rest  satisfied 
with  merely  knowing  their  nanus,  and  how  can 
169 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

more  be  known  unless  flowers  are  set  up  in  a  por- 
trait gallery  of  their  own  for  the  leisurely  study 
of  their  lineaments  and  lineage  ? 

A  word  then  as  to  the  best  way  to  gather  wild 
flowers.  A  case  for  them  in  the  form  of  a  round 
tube,  closed  at  the  ends,  with  a  hinged  cover, 
can  be  made  by  a  tinsmith  at  small  cost.  Its 
dimensions  should  be  about  thirty  inches  in 
length  by  five  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  strap 
attached  to  carry  it  by.  At  still  less  expense  a 
frame  can  be  made,  or  bought,  formed  of  two 
boards,  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick,  twenty-four 
inches  long  and  eighteen  inches  broad,  with  two 
thin  battens  fastened  across  them  to  prevent 
warping.  A  quire  of  soft  brown  paper,  news- 
paper will  do,  and  a  strap  to  hold  all  together, 
complete  the  outfit. 

Our  gathered  treasures  at  home,  we  may  wish 
to  deck  a  table  or  a  mantel  with  a  few  of  them. 
The  lives  of  unpressed  blossoms  can  be  much 
prolonged  by  exercising  a  little  care.  Punch 
holes  in  a  round  of  cardboard  and  put  the  stalks 
through  these  holes  before  placing  the  flowers 
in  a  vase.  This  prevents  the  stalks  touching 
each  other,  and  so  decaying  before  their  time. 
A  little  charcoal  in  the  water  tends  to  keep 
it  pure;  the  water  should  be  changed  daily. 

A  flower  will  fade  at  last  be  it  tended  ever  so 
carefully.  If  we  wish  to  preserve  it  dried  we  can 
best  do  so  as  soon  as  we  bring  it  home,  by  placing.' 
it  between  sheets  of  absorbent  paper  (newspaper 
will  do)  well  weighted  down,  the  paper  to  be 
170 


The  Strange   Story   of  the   Flowers 

renewed  if  the  plants  are  succulent  and  if  there 
is  any  risk  of  mildew.  But  a  dried  plant  after 
all  is  only  a  mummy.  Its  colours  are  gone;  its 
form  bruised  and  crumpled,  gives  only  a  faint 
suggestion  of  it  as  it  lived  and  breathed.  Other 
and  more  pleasant  reminders  of  our  summer 
rambles  can  be  ours.  With  a  camera  of  fair  size 
it  is  easy  to  take  pictures  of  flowers  at  their  best; 
these  pictures  can  be  coloured  in  their  natural  tints 
with  happy  effect.  In  this  art  Mrs.  Cornelius 
Van  Brunt,  of  New  York,  has  attained  extra- 
ordinary success.  Or,  instead  of  the  camera, 
why  not  at  first  invoke  the  brush  and  colour-box  ? 
Only  a  little  skill  in  handling  them  is  enough  for 
a  beginning.  Practice  soon  increases  deftness 
in  this  art  as  in  every  other,  and  in  a  few  short 
weeks  floral  portraits  are  painted  with  a  truth  to 
nature  denied  the  unaided  pencil.  For  what 
flower,  however  meek  and  lowly,  could  ever  tell 
its  story  in  plain  black  and  white  ? 

The  amateur  painter  of  flowers  learns  a  good 
many  things  by  the  way;  at  the  very  outset,  that 
drawing  accurate  and  clear  must  be  the  ground- 
work of  any  painting  worthy  the  name.  Both 
in  the  use  of  pencil  and  brush  there  must  be  a 
degree  of  painstaking  observation,  wholesome  as 
a  discipline  and  delightful  in  its  harvests.  How 
many  of  us,  unused  to  the  task  of  careful  observa- 
tion, can  tell  the  number  of  the  musk-mallow's 
petals,  or  mark  on  paper  the  depth  of  fringe  on  a 
gentian,  or  match  from  a  series  of  dyed  silks  the 
hues  of  a  common  buttercup  ?  Drawing  and 
171 


Masterpieces   of   Science 

painting  sharpen  the  eye,  and  make  the  fingers 
its  trained  and  ready  servants.  From  the  very 
beginning  of  one's  task  in  limning  bud  and  blos- 
som, we  see  them  richer  in  grace  and  loveliness 
than  ever  before.  When  wild  flowers  are  sketch- 
ed as  they  grow  it  is  often  easy  to  give  them  a 
new  interest  by  adding  the  portraits  of  their 
insect  servitors.  Amateurs  who  are  so  fortunate 
as  to  visit  the  West  Indies  have  an  opportunity 
to  paint  the  wonderful  blossoms  of  the  Marc- 
gravia,  whose  minister,  a  humming  bird,  quivers 
above  it  like  a  bit  of  rainbow  loosened  from  the 
sky. 

Early  in  the  history  of  art  the  wild  flowers- 
lent  their  aid  to  decoration.  The  acanthus 
which  gave  its  leaves  to  crest  the  capital  of  the 
Corinthian  column,  the  roses  conventionalized 
in  the  rich  fabrics  of  ancient  Persia,  until  they 
have  been  thought  sheer  inventions  of  the 
weaver,  are  among  the  first  items  of  an  indebted- 
ness which  has  steadily  grown  in  volume  until 
to-day,  when  the  designers  who  find  their  inspira- 
tion in  the  flowers  are  a  vast  and  increasing  host. 
In  a  modern  mansion  of  the  best  type  the  outer 
walls  are  enriched  with  the  leonine  beauty  of 
the  sun-flower;  within,  the  mosaic  floors,  the  silk, 
and  paper  hangings,  repeat  themes  suggested 
by  the  vine,  the  wild  clematis  and  the  May- 
flower. The  stained  glass  windows  from  New 
York,  where  their  manufacture  excels  that  of 
any  other  city  in  the  world,  are  exquisite  with 
boldly  treated  lilies,  poppies,  and  columbines. 
172 


The   Strange   Story   of   the   Flowers 

In  the  drawing-room  are  embroideries  designed 
by  two  young  women  of  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
who  have  established  a  thriving  industry  in 
transferring  the  glow  of  wild  flowers  to  the  adorn- 
ment of  noble  houses  such  as  this.  As  one  goes 
from  studio  to  studio,  it  is  cheering  to  find  so 
many  men  and  women  busy  at  work  which  is 
more  joyful  than  play, — which  in  many  cases 
first  taken  up  as  a  recreation  disclosed  a  vein  of 
genuine  talent  and  so  pointed  to  a  career  more 
delightful  than  any  other, — because  it  chimes  in 
with  the  love  of  beauty  and  the  power  of  giving 
it  worthy  expression. 


LoiUf 


173 


tf 


